A Gypsy family in Europe is the focus of this novel, which begins in the idyllic days of the 1920s, when it was possible for these nomadic people to live normal lives--marrying, having children, fixing up the wagons they live in, working as coppersmiths and itinerant fruit-pickers. Then, with the rise of Hitler, their lives are utterly changed, as they are packed off to the camps in Czechoslovakia. The novel follows the fortunes of one family, culminating in the escape of young Emil, who survives the war to be reunited with the woman he loves.