This is a wonderful book and I would really like to thank the Surrey Library service for putting it under my nose on the 'recommended' table. I was surprised to see that it was first published in 1993, as both the author and the title are new to me and it really should be considered a classic that is known by readers everywhere. Maybe it is and I just haven't been looking in the right direction. The quality of the writing stands out right from the start and there is a gentle humour running through it that demands you read every word with care. It's set in Austria in the period just before World War Two and we meet the Berger family, who are partly Jewish so suddenly find themselves in great danger. Most of the family get away to England as planned, but daughter Ruth misses the student transport and is stuck alone in Nazi-occupied Vienna. Ruth is an intelligent girl but much of her personality has been influenced by characters in novels and operatic works and she ...