It is the early 1990s. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean together, an American couple, Ellen and her husband Tim go their separate ways, he in pursuit of his research in England, she in search of a Europe that seems always just out of reach, despite her other visits. In travelling through Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, with a foray into Prague, Ellen’s trail briefly touches, or passes close to the other people in this book: Helga, a quiet, introspective German hausfrau and her ‘ jazz singing’ niece, Jana.... Ladislaw - or Ladi - an emigrant from Prague.... Gerta and Frieda and Marta, three women dealing the best way they can with Europe as it is now, but always aware of the changes they have seen. And hovering at the edges of all their lives, the vanished Europe - the poignant and destructive past. In a leafy Bruges square, a carousel goes around as Ellen begins her wanderings. By her return, what is it she will have found. PLEASE NOTE: In the preview, the front and back end flaps shown are from a hard cover (proof copy) version of the book that is not available and are superfluous to this edition. The front and back covers, however, are as shown.