Starting Over

Though she does not understand exactly why, Maria is not content with her lot. The prospect of exchanging dependence on her family for dependence on a husband does not sit well with this young woman growing up in late 19th Century Germany. Three generations later, on the other side of the Atlantic, Eva struggles with a similar restlessness; she is generally happy but never quite satisfied.This book follows Maria and her great-granddaughter Eva as they face surprisingly similar choices in dramatically different decades: how to keep a roof over your head, when to abandon independence and commit to a lover, where to draw a line in the sand. The choices they make take them to new countries, open them up to heartache and leave them wondering what is enough.

Maria stood unmoving as she absorbed the fact that she was now a legal immigrant into America. She hadn't realized how much she had worried that her dream could have been crushed at the last minute.
     One of the men at the desk snapped something to her in English that brought her out of her reverie. She grabbed her bags and moved towards the ferry.
     A short boat ride later had Maria stepping onto Manhattan Island. She blinked, still fearing it was a dream that would vanish. But she didn't wake up. Or rather, she was already wide awake. She'd never been more awake in her life. And nothing had ever felt as real as this street in New York.