After 200 hundred years of Poland's tragic history and dismemberment by her neighbors, Poland's right to nationhood was fully restored in 1920. This was preceded by a final and desperate struggle against the Russians who were determined to keep Poland's existence erased from history and buried forever. In the midst of fighting, we are introduced to Marysia and Maniek an enchanting couple who fall in love and marry. In building a life together they are challenged with extreme poverty and hardship. Raising their eight young children into a slowly brightening future, their lives are brutally shattered when Maniek is sent to war and is killed on the first day by the invading Russians. Marysia, devastated and in despair, is left to provide for them and her anguish does not end there, as they are faced with deportation to Siberia. With the harsh reality of the war and the extremes of the Siberian climate, only five children survive and as if Marysia had not endured enough, she is left to face the world alone. This is a truly remarkable novel, as Marysia is the author's mother and this is her story of her torment and tears.