What a life! The childhood of the author, born in 1922, was entirely cosmopolitan. One grandmother spoke German, the other Russian, and the Latvian-Jewish family constantly shuttled between Riga, Paris, and Berlin, where they lived in a boarding house near the Ku'damm, frequented by actors, directors, and writers from all over Europe who exchanged news. Valentina Freimane recounts this time from the carefree perspective of a growing girl, creating a magnificent portrait of the era, but the author is also aware that just a few years later, all circumstances of life changed completely. The family had to return to Riga and experienced the occupation of the Baltics by the Soviet Union, the German invasion in 1941, and then, towards the end of the war, the return of the Soviets. Freimane narrates with precision and A.