From the dust jacket:
Lively, entertaining, this is a first-hand account of the Russian occupation of Hungary. Through the eyes of a young, spirited, attractive woman, we see the mysterious "Red" – both Cossack and Commissar with his boots off, so to speak, romping through the land.
No one was happier to see the first of the Russians. They came in December '44, "liberating" the little Hungarian town of Mora from the dreaded Nazis. But in no time at all, Alexandra Orme couldn't wait to see the last of them.
She lived with her husband and relatives in the Manor, for the family were aristocrats, therefore the town's gentry. And happily, she spoke Russian, which was enough to make the conquering heroes feel that she was one of them. This proved a mixed blessing, for the Manor was constantly besieged by fascinated troops, who came to see for themselves such fine specimens of the fabled bourgeoisie.
In their turn, the family were fascinated by the Russians. At first it was rather like two strange breeds of animals, sniffing experimentally at each other.
Then, in no time, Alexandra found herself fighting a private woman's war of survival with the Heroes of the Red Army. She did not have a precedent for the proper response when the soldier leveled his revolver and said, "Don't mind your husband, come and sleep with me." But she did have her own wit and wisdom. which equipped her to handle that situation, and almost every other.
From Christmas to Easter, 1945, the author and her family lived in a world where anything could happen and frequently did. They were plundered and dispossessed, invited to banquets and plied with vodka, arrested and interrogated and propositioned. Thanks to her courage and indestructible good-temper, she was sometimes charmed as well as terrified. Certainly, she came through the experience with flying colors – and tells about it in this frank, entertaining book.
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