Through the lens of a single day, we are offered a glimpse of the whole life of Hilkka Mednis. One of five daughters of Pauli and Anne Polvinen, Hilkka enjoyed a happy early childhood until her mother died in childbirth. Then, at the age of thirteen, on the invasion of Finland by the Red Army, she, together with her father and three of her sisters were deported to Siberia. On the day she finds out her son, an up and coming ballet dancer, has defected, Hilkka describes her experiences including the interrogation, and, in so doing, we are dipped into the tough, mundane and, sometimes, sublime nature of Soviet life. Whilst the book is set in the past it is very much about determination, grit, bravery and resilience, the Finnish term for which is 'sisu'.