Her son introduces his mother''s life story which she has written as a fictional narrative as she relives traumatic experiences while writing about them. She traces her life from a sheltered childhood and girlhood in her disfunctional Italo-American Catholic family to her meeting a handsome young Israeli hero of his country's War of Independence, who is studying in the United States now that there is hope of peace in his country.. . They are both romantics- she, a vulnerable young music student, he a sensitive, idealistic artist whose dream is to do something memorable for his young country....