Eros

"Young Alex comes of age under Hitler and Allied air raids. His parents die tragically; he narrowly escapes death himself, eventually taking over the family armament business, which continues to thrive after the war. Throughout his life, von Brücken (as he's called as an adult) pines for Sofie Kurtz, the daughter of workers at the family factory, who was his first kiss at 14. For Sophie, Alex is a blip on her childhood radar, but Alex uses his influence to track and even shape the course of Sophie's life as she moves from kindergarten teacher to Red Army Front revolutionary to demoralized exile in the German Democratic Republic"--Provided by Publishers Weekly