Wanda Newby grew up in a small village in the mountains of Slovenia - the daughter of the village school-master. This is an affectionate evocation of the simple and close-knit community and of a whole way of life that has now vanished. When Wanda was ten, Mussolini - frightened of Yugoslav nationalist feeling - transferred her father to a village in Italy. She describes school in Parma, dances in the village, feast days and festivals.