Memory's Ransom' draws the reader into a world of intrigue and astonishing reversals of fortune populated by a cast of compellingly memorable men and women. Opening with an assassination, the story begins with a mysterious encounter on a dark, rainswept roadside in war-torn Italy and concludes with a shattering incident on a beach in Portugal.This remarkable novel is a haunting story of secrets, love, deep friendship, loss and longing, set against the background of Imperial Vienna reduced by defeat to the size and poverty of a small parish; the rise of the Nazis, the terrors of 'Kristallnacht'; a breath-taking escape from occupied Europe; and of the way memory clings relentlessly to us.