Hilde Spiel, the "grande dame of Austrian literature" through the 20th century, completed these memoirs about a year before her death in 1990, yet it took nearly 20 years to complete this English translation by her daughter Christine Shuttleworth. The result is a thorough account of the author's impact upon the literary scene, which detailed her extensive emigration through Europe and her eventual return to her native land. Shuttleworth struggled for years to preserve the warmth and the humor in her mother's writings, and to present these gifts to English-speaking literature enthusiasts. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)