This book is told from multiple perspectives as they rush to evaucate from Prussia in the face of the advancing Russian army.  We have Joanna, a nurse who escaped from Lithuania; Florian,  an art restorer from Prussia; Emilia, a Polish teenager who is pregnant; and Alfred, a sailor on the Wilhelm Gustoff.  Each chapter changes perspective on who is telling the story of this little known tragedy.  The ship Wilhem Gustoff was part of operation Hannibal, a large scale evacuation staged by the Germans in the face of the advancing Russian army.  The Wilhem Gustoff was hit with three torpedos within hours of leaving port in the Baltic Sea losing the majority of the 10,000 souls on board.  This trajedy should be as familiar as the Titanic but is hardly remember.  I had never heard of it prior to reading the novel.  The story is face paced and intriguing look at a little told part of history.