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Tuscany
in the summer of 1944. Following their parent's death in an accident,
Penny and her younger sister Baby are taken in by their aunt, who lives
with her husband, a German Jewish intellectual, in a villa in the country.
At first, the idyllically situated home is a little disconcerting for
the children, but they soon get used to their new environment and the
hospitable atmosphere.
Their uncle, a lawyer by profession, is a great lover of art and music;
from time to time he invites rather unconventional guests that are equally
fascinating for the girls as is their new life in the country.
At school, the girls soon make friends with the children of the neighbouring
farming community. Before long they are doing all sorts of things together
and have great fun enjoying all the little excitements of their peaceful
existence. Penny also falls in love for the first time.
But even this blissful community is not to be spared from the affects
of the war. It bursts in on them with the full force of its brutality
when German soldiers arrive one day and occupy the Einstein's villa. Their
uncle's life, in particular, is endangered and so the girls use all their
courage and ingenuity to protect him from persecution at the hands of
the Germans. They are successful, too, for quite some time. But once the
German army are forced toretreat, they leave a path of destruction in
their wake of which the Einstein family also become a victim...
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