As a five-year-old in Poland, Stefania loved to dance, but war came and her father went away to fight. Then she and her mother were sent to work camps in Siberia. The two struggled through until they were released and allowed to travel south again. But now her mother is sick and Stefania must leave her. At the parting Stefania drops one of her precious dancing slippers. She holds on to her one remaining slipper as a link to home and her parents as she is finally sent to the other side of the world - NZ. At the age of twelve, Stefania finally hears news of her parents and there is a reunion but it's not a totally happy ending. Her mother had returned to Poland and now that country is closed.