If Christine hadn’t found out Isaac was alive, do you think she would have ended up with Jake? What would Christine’s and Jake’s future have looked like?

Perhaps, after a long time, a relationship might have developed, but if Jake had been sent home sooner rather than later, it may not have lasted. If they had ended up together, Christine would have ended up in the States, as did so many others who married GIs.

I think Christine had survived experiences that must have made her very strong. Living in war torn Germany would have been a very different experience than living in the small town of her childhood. The number of young men killed during the war in Germany would have made it difficult for her to find a husband there. The fact that she did not abandon Isaac during the war because he was Jewish indicated that she was not prejudiced regarding other cultures. She seemed like the kind of young woman who could contemplate starting a marriage in a foreign country if her relationship with Jake had continued to grow. I don't think the author put him in the book as a back-up relationship if Isaac didn't return, however. I think he was the contrast of friendship with the passion of first love.

I agree that Christine is a very strong woman because of the life she lived. Therefore I don't think she would have ended up with Jake. She feels strongly about her family and I don't think she would leave them. To develop a relationship with Jake would be a long process with the communication problems and I doubt she would move to the States and leave her family.