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This historical novel focuses on the saga of aristocratic German family, the Von Shtattens, who have settled near the city of Mariupol in Ukraine, in rich grape-growing land titled “Weinberg,” or land of wine. Emanuel Von Shtatten, born in 1893, lives to see the Communist revolution when thousands of the landowning class, intelligentsia, and the cultured are executed as enemies of the proletariat. The first half of the novel describes his adaptation to the new Communist reality, where he must rely on a cousin’s hospitality to survive. The second half describes the eventual invasion of Ukraine by Nazi forces in 1941. Emanuel’s family has grown up in a loving atmosphere only now to be torn apart by historical forces. Emanuel and his wife flee to Greece, and the novel begins to focus on his eldest daughter, Lydia’s struggle to adapt to the Nazi reality in Ukraine.
The author’s skill in depicting the discrepancy between the loving and nurturing character of family life with the brutal and dehumanizing nature of revolution, war, and racism is powerful. Most of the novel is spent describing the love of the main character’s for their children and family. Meanwhile, the chaos and cruelty of social forces threaten to reduce them to dehumanized abstractions worthy of instant death or imprisonment. The theme of destiny is visited again and again, understandably interpreted here as being not entirely in human control. Still, the writer imbues the Van Shtatten generations with a resilience and implacable will that carries them through the turbulent times. The story ends with a somewhat bittersweet portrayal of the immigrant experience. Overall, this is a moving and emotional fictional account of a region, class, and ethnic identity that has all but disappeared.