I have never written a book review before. However, I disagree so strongly with the last review, I felt compelled to write. Furthermore, I must point out that the last reviewer did not read the story closely because Marina saved a woman from dying with her bar of chocolate. …more I think the whole message of the book is that in the midst of the worst dispair there is always humanity. That is what keeps us alive. You can be starving and still have compassion for a stranger. You can have every bit of beauty stripped from the walls around you and still use your imagination to make a group of boys believe they are seeing great works of art. I wept at the images. I also think that it gives us hope that those victims of dimentia are not locked in some hellish prison but are perhaps reliving some wonderful parts of their lives. Because even Marina who had been through so much in her lifetime, remember the beauty of life most of all. This is the message we must take from the book. (less)