Maja Haderlap achieves something that is generally considered impossible today: she tells the story of a girl, a family, and at the same time, the story of a people. It recalls a childhood in the Carinthian mountains. The author vividly evokes the scents of summer, the cooking skills of the grandmother, the disputes of the parents, and the quirks of the neighbors. The narrative revolves around the daily struggle of a growing girl to understand her family and the people around her. Although the war is over, it remains ever-present in the minds of the Slovenian minority to which the family belongs. Going into the woods meant not only cutting down trees, hunting, or gathering mushrooms. It meant hiding, fleeing, joining the partisans, and resisting. For those who could not escape, the consequences were dire.