What happened in Europe after World War II to the returning Jews, the displaced Swabians, and the Hungarians in Felvidék (now Slovakia) who were victims of population exchange? The great social dramas of 20th-century Central Europe are as much the subject of this disturbing volume as individual destinies: how does desire stretch the boundaries of everyday norms; how does it destroy lives or forces them to leave their country? What happens to a man who wishes to live as a woman but his chosen vocation requires him to observe religious norms? What happens to a teenager whose first love, his teacher, has her eye on his best friend and plays a vicious game with the boys? What will be the fate of the deaf and mute son of a peasant woman who, in his final exclusion from human society, seeks solace with animals?