Walter Roth explores the everyday lives of his father Markus, his stepmother Toni, and other members of the family, in Germany and as refugees in Chicago. He discusses the painful problems of his sister Irene and his father Markus. The dialogue form allows the reader to hear the story in Toni's own voice and to sense the joys and sorrows she experienced in her 99 years of life. The recipes included at the end of the book are part of the family's heritage transmitted from generation to generation.