What will happen when Miriam, a 16-year-old Jewish girl from a tiny village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has been impregnated by a young Pole? Her parents send her off to join her brothers in America. Along the way, however, Miriam boards the wrong train ... Ann Abelson thus begins a family saga based on actual events, including an unexpected pregnancy and a bizarre coincidence.

As the narrative continues, we learn about Miriam's sojourn in Gotlein, the plans made for her child, the problems that arise, the difficult pregnancy, and the ultimate birth. What choices does Miriam have? Will she give up her child to the odious "Herr Doktor Professor"? This second part has been painstakingly recovered, edited, and (minimally) revised from an incomplete manuscript with handwritten notes, yet it truly captures the author's voice and presents a wonderful continuation of the original narrative. Now, for the first time, the two sections have been combined in a single volume.