Across the Burning

the long version

Once enthralled by the grand vistas of travel, Frederic returns, a man cored out by experience and flight as Europe is about to burst into the fire of World War II. He, a sharp and worldly non-believer, returns to his beloved Hungary, to Rudi Wolf, his soul friend, and Lia Mendez, his only love. His two Jewish friends, now married, welcome him back as part of their life and the three friends face the incineration of all human values during the Nazi occupation. This is a story of sensibility and identity which asks what is meant by belonging to a nation, a religion, to just one person and to one another.