This book is about four generations of Umnitzer family in Germany. I would say that the central character is Alexander who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and who travels to Mexico. But, chapters are divided in a way that each chapter is a different year, so we follow parts of the family in that year. We have Alexanders' communist grandparents living several years in Mexico before returning to East Germany, his parents who came back from Russia and then Alexanders' son. This book is about family, war, communism, duty and Germany. I picked this book up knowing nothing about it and I liked it. I have to say I learned a lot about that part of history, what it was like to live on the east side of 'the wall', about punishments for opinions you weren’t supposed to have and about beautiful places in Mexico. Funny thing is, I didn't really like any of the characters but still enjoyed reading this novel.