From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a
transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the
bonds of love and courage.
With war looming dangerously close, Ilse's school days soon turn to
lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join
the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are
drawn and East Prussia's borders vanish beneath them, they leave their
farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.
But Ilse also has Janusz, her family's young Polish laborer, by her
side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep
her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around
them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which
spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.
Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.
Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and
his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once
the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in
the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs
and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they'll become pawns caught between
two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.
Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an
extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at
once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that
draws them together against insurmountable odds.
