Penelope Prior, the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, grew up in an Armenian community in northern Persia. During the Great War, she and her family returned to the US. But as soon as the war ended, a call was issued for volunteers with the languages and experience required to bring life-saving food and medical aid to the vast numbers of war victims and refugees who had fled to the Armenian Caucasus. Hungry, sick, homeless, and desperate, the children needed every kind of help. A new type of humanitarian enterprise was formed to rescue them, on a scale never attempted before. This innovative collaboration of churches, government, agriculture and industry, charities, voluntary organizations, and the media was created by the Near East Relief. Penny and her father respond to the call and soon find themselves in a city of orphans--children left alone or stranded by war and deportation. All of her ability and strength must be summoned to help establish a haven for these young survivors. As they face the struggles together, trauma and loss begin to make way for a bit of recovery and hope.
