Just before her hundredth birthday, Marietta is seized by a strange restlessness. She doesn't care much for birthdays; rather, she is preoccupied with what is happening around her. Mr. Tacke, grumpy and an old Nazi, has moved into the room of her neighbor Gisela, it is rumored. And in the refugee shelter next door lives a little boy who reminds her of her son, who did not survive the escape from the eastern territories many decades ago. Gradually, the ghosts of the past emerge and urge her to finally confront the most painful event of her life, which she had buried deep within herself for decades. Through an encounter, she finds the courage to face her darkest hour. A touching novel that powerfully tells of the wounds of war and the strength of reconciliation.