In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people begin the longest journey of their lives: an attempt to cross the remnants of the Third Reich, from Warsaw to the Rhine if necessary, to reach the British and American lines.

Among the group is eighteen-year-old Anna Emmerich, the daughter of Prussian aristocrats. There is her lover, Callum Finella, a twenty-year-old Scottish prisoner of war who was brought from the stalag to her family’s farm as forced labor. And there is a twenty-six-year-old Wehrmacht corporal, who the pair know as Manfred–who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz.

As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war. Their flight will test both Anna’s and Callum’s love, as well as their friendship with Manfred–assuming any of them even survive.

Perhaps not since The English Patient has a novel so deftly captured both the power and poignancy of romance and the terror and tragedy of war. Skillfully portraying the flesh and blood of history, Chris Bohjalian has crafted a rich tapestry that puts a face on one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies–while creating, perhaps, a masterpiece that will haunt readers for generations.

剋利斯•波傑裏安（Chris Bohjalian）1960年生於紐約，1982年畢業於阿默斯特學院，是《柯夢波丹》、《讀者文摘》、《波士頓周日環球雜誌》等多傢期刊的撰稿人，並闢有個人專欄。他是美國最受歡迎的小說傢之一，其作品傾嚮於描述普通人在不可預見的情況下産生的睏境，並往往以性格為導嚮，圍繞復雜且有缺陷的主角和次要人物循環。他的很多故事都發生在真實的佛濛特州的一些虛構的城鎮，以至於讓眾多讀者誤認為確有其地。

剋利斯•波傑裏安迄今已發錶小說13部，包括曾入選《齣版人周刊》“最佳好書”、“奧普拉讀書俱樂部”選書的《紐約時報》暢銷作品《助産士》。此外，他也有多本著作登上《紐約時報》暢銷書榜。2002年獲頒“新英格蘭最佳小說奬”。《舊金山紀事報》描述他的作品為：“平凡人物在心痛時刻所錶現齣來的優雅與尊嚴”。他的作品被翻譯成26種語言，銷售近500萬冊，其中3部作品曾被改編成電影。他和妻女現居佛濛特州。