"In war, they made impossible choices. Now, can they live with them?" -- cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-356)

Bavaria, Germany. June, 1945. The Third Reich has crumbled. The Russians are coming. Marianne, widow of a resistor to the Nazi regime, returns to the grand, crumbling castle where she once played host to all of German high society. She assembles a makeshift family from the ruins of her husband's movement, rescuing her dearest friend's widow, Benita, from sexual slavery to the Russian army, and Ania from a work camp for political prisoners. She is certain their shared past will bind them together. But as Benita begins a clandestine relationship and Ania struggles to conceal her role in the Nazi regime, Marianne learns that her clear-cut, highly principled world view has no place in these new, frightening and emotionally-charged days. All three women must grapple with the realities they now face, and the consequences of decisions each made in the darkest of times...