Eliza Graham's second novel is even more compelling than the first. On one level an action story about Alix, an aristocratic German girl, fleeing the avenging Red Army in 1945, it also explores the backgound of her family and their friends. Not all the Germans are Nazis,not all the Junkers are inflexible stereotypes. Alix's mother is an actress with a bohemian circle of friends. These can prove dangerous, particularly where there is Jewish blood but also where friends have Gestapo contacts. The story moves to and from 1920s Vienna, where the breakup of the Hapsburg Empire means some Austrians are now exiles from what is now Northern Italy and others have identity crises and mixed loyalties. Alix's childhood friend is one of these and his escape to Russian-occupied Poland leads to imprisonment in the Gulags until he can prove his use to the Soviets. In all, a well researched, engrossing story.