Helena is fourteen years old when she experienced the nationally organized forceful deportation of her family from their native Bohemia into West Germany. For more than four years she and her family along with thousands of others were transported via cattle-cars into various refugee camps, where they survived under most deplorable living conditions. Deprived of most basic amenities, they suffered extreme heat and cold, but foremost; starvation and disease. This journey into the depth of despair is not without hope. It is an account of survival that glitters and sparks with love and truth.

Maria Irene Fornes is PAJ's top-selling author, with three volumes in print for two decades.