The action is set in 1936 and tells of the escape of the young Jewish woman, Monika Merton, whose husband has already died at Dachau. She is herself being pursued by the Gestapo and so heads for the border to cross into Austria, always travelling on foot or on skis. Her travelling companion is an acquaintance of hers, the young poet, Andreas von Cornides. While they are resting at a mountain refuge, she tells him her story. This includes events from her life in Munich and the crazy world of 1930s Berlin, of her love for her cousin, Klaus, her marriage, her travels and her ups and downs, and her work at an alternative school in rural Bavaria until the Nazis came to power and anti-Semitism put an end to so many life chances, indeed lives. This is a highly significant work of German literature, unusually accessible, both impressive and touching, clever and insightful.