Publisher's Synopsis
Jutta Vandermeer's childhood in Germany took place against a background of great social upheaval, food shortages, daily uncertainty and a disrupted family life. "The Second World War was raging in Western Europe during my mother's pregnancy. My father was training to be a soldier in northern Germany. My mother had two sons born in 1936 and 1938. She had not planned to fall pregnant again. At that time, it was unacceptable for the wife to refuse sexual intercourse. Contraceptives were not available to my mother either. The inevitable happened. Mother commented, 'Suddenly, without a midwife, you were there'." Years later, the adult Jutta finds herself on the opposite side of the world, in New Zealand, coping with young children, a new husband, and suffering from a mysterious debilitating illness. Doctors are consulted without success. She wonders, could her condition be related to the violence meted out by a series of men in her life? With the unwavering support of her devoted husband and children, Jutta strives to find a cure, and at the same time reconcile with her parents and extended family.
