Named for a reference from Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale - "Bohemia, a desert near the sea" - this book could have been subtitled: "cure the disease and kill the patient". The end of the 1940s saw the eradication of Nazi fascism in central Europe and the installation of Soviet communism in eastern Europe: in theory diametrically opposed, but each wielding a similar totalitarian grip over the populace, held in place by ruthless party power. Jill Paton Walsh describes the ice age of the eastern bloc through the story of an extended family in the fictitious province of Comenia, set in Bohemia. Divided and disgraced through their apparent activities during the second World War, surviving members spent displaced lives in the free west longing for their homeland, or in the east, where speech and thought were gagged and blindfolded, personal freedom an impetuous risk. Paton Walsh's penchant for philosophical discussion forms an integral part of the action. Although the characters are a bit predictable, the plot is well woven, the story satisfyingly dramatic.