In the 1950s, Margaret Szándor made a risky escape from Communist persecution in Hungary with her husband and older daughter. She succeeded in emigrating to the United States but had to leave her younger daughter one behind with relatives. Years later, Margaret, who already feels fulfilled in her new home, uses Red Cross diplomatic channels to arrange for her daughter to come and live with her. On arrival, however, the girl finds it hard to adjust to her new though affluent home among ‘strangers.’ When her feelings of alienation don’t lessen even after years, her mother agrees to let her visit her beloved Hungary. But there, idealised childhood memories are confronted by reality and her first–hand knowledge of a free and democratic world. Only now with the help of her relatives does she come to understand the past drama which her mother had to go through. She begins to realise that it’s time to take advantage of her opportunities. When she returns to the United States she decides to accept what this new world offers her.