"When U.S. troops occupy Germany, friends Jakob and Emmanuelle are saved from the terrible fate of so many in the camps. With the help of sponsors, they make their way to New York. In order not to be separated, they allow their friendship to blossom into love and marriage, and start a new life on the Lower East Side, working at grueling, poorly paid jobs. Decades later, through talent, faith, fortune, and relentless hard work, Jakob has achieved success...

"Pacific Hills, California: Gated communities, ocean views, well-tended lawns, serene pools, and now the new home of the Shah family. For the Shah parents, who came to America twenty years earlier with little more than an education and their new marriage, this move represents the culmination of years of hard work and dreaming. For their children, born and raised in America, success is not so simple. For the most part, these differences among the five...

In these warmly sentimental, cheerful sketches of life in a Norwegian-American family, the various members have their adventures, but Mama always emerges as the heroine. From her the children learn courage, honesty, and straight thinking.

Cuando las tropas estadounidenses ocupan Alemania, los amigos Jakob y Emmanuelle se salvan del terrible destino de tantos en los campos. Con la ayuda de patrocinadores, se dirigen a Nueva York. Para no separarse, permiten su amistad florecer en el amor y el matrimonio, y comenzar una nueva vida en el Lower East Side, trabajando en trabajos agotadores y mal pagados. Décadas más tarde, a través del talento, la fe, la fortuna y el trabajo incansable...