Another Ocean to Cross

Germany, 1938: Talented Jewish teen artist and secret activist, Renata Lowenthal, convinces her reluctant parents that they must leave, before conditions for Jews worsen. Her father, Karl, a doctor no longer allowed to practice, and Lea, her mother, depressed over the loss of a child years before, decide to head to Palestine. After a hazardous journey, they find themselves in Egypt. Using her ingenuity and artistic talent, Renata gets her parents into Alexandria, the headquarters of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet. But war’s tentacles reach to Egypt, and the family is still in danger, with nowhere to go. Renata looks to the Allied sailors and soldiers, thinking a husband will provide an opportunity to move out of harm’s way. After a steamy courtship, she marries Ray Stern, a Canadian, shortly before he is deployed to war service. Not long after the birth of their child, Renata is faced with an agonizing decision that will have repercussions many years into the future. Determined to keep her family together, she must dig into the depths of her being, to find a resourcefulness and courage she never knew she had, and travel half way around the world, to save her marriage and her family.