"I remember my mother Jocelyn." She accompanied "me to the induction center." She could follow me no further... "I can never forget the expression on her face, the sadness, the tears, for she had suffered through the entire ware for all her sons..." With this indelible impression, Jeremie, the youngest Lobel son, introduces his family as it faces the turmoil of the late 1930s and then endures World War II and battle's toll. Jocelyn, Catholic, a renowned singer, has married a Jewish physician, Aaron, a man of medical achievements. They struggle throughout their marriage not only because of conflicting careers, religion, and social status but with the fear of four sons in service during World War II. Moreover, Jocelyn's brother, Joseph, has become an agent for the British prior to hostilities and works and spies in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He also marries a German double agent Elena, working for the allies. She comes to the United States to live. Mistakenly believing her husband died in battle, she returns to occupied France. Jocelyn, meanwhile, seeks a semblance of stability while trying to reconcile differences with Aaron and also with her difficult daughter-in-law. These accumulating home problems occur as her sons' letters arrive describing their trials on the battlefields while withholding their knowledge of a murder by Joseph. Eventually, Jocelyn's strength preserves the family and herself through tragedy and eventual worldwide peace.
