Zde­na Berg­er calls her book an ​“auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal nov­el,” a des­ig­na­tion that allows the author to inter­pret her expe­ri­ences and move back a bit from the real­i­ty of her life. Tania is a teenage girl liv­ing in Prague who becomes a pris­on­er in There­sien­stadt. Tania has two friends, Eva and Ilse, who even­tu­al­ly go on the Death March with her and who help each oth­er through­out the sto­ry. When Eva is over­come with fever, the oth­ers drag her to the side and pre­tend she is just sleep­ing to keep her from being killed. Ilse charms the guards to learn many secrets and tricks to help them. As they walk through vil­lages on the March, a young girl toss­es an apple. Tania picks it up. She pass­es a bite to the girl walk­ing in front of her, reveal­ing to the read­er how even in this awful time, some kind­ness is pos­si­ble. The author presents an unsen­ti­men­tal view of the hor­rors expe­ri­enced in the camps. Yet, even through what seems an impos­si­ble ordeal, hope is the final emotion.