I liked her terse style of writing- being able to capture the whole atmosphere of the location &/or events, which ranged from delightful to horrific in just a few, well-chosen words. It was a much truer way to learn the history of WWII from a survivor's point of view than from a dry, college textbook... It made me appreciate & understand to a much greater degree what the European people suffered at Hitler's hand. We have such a great life compared to what the people in the book had to endure or die for. I loved her descriptions of Paris & London, because I've traveled & spent time there. One of the other ladies in our book club lived in Vienna for several years & offered very insightful commentary to understand how the Austrians thought & reacted or didn't react to the Nazi threat. I wish there could be a sequel or more will be discovered about the author/heroine of the story, Trudi Kanter, who is now dead, unfortunately. What a strong woman way ahead of her time by decades! Her writing style would lend itself excellently to be transcribed into a play or film script. This book could be read very quickly on a surface level, or you could go into it historically much deeper.