1980s Romania: As the sun sets on the magical shore of the Black Sea and casts its last rays across the water, all Nora Teodoru can think about is pursuing her dream of becoming an accomplished artist — and of her love for Gigi, her childhood boyfriend from the Turkish part of town. But storm clouds are gathering as life under Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu becomes increasingly unbearable. His secret police are circling, never far from the young couple's doors. Nora and Gigi make plans to escape to Turkey. But nothing can prepare them for the events that follow...

In the summer of 1977, seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu falls in love with Mihai, a mysterious boy who lives in the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. She can think of nothing and no one else. But life under Nicolae Ceausescu is difficult. Hunger, paranoia and fear infect everyone. One day Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favored by the secret police... is it possible he is one of them? As food shortages worsen and more of her loved ones disappear, Mona comes to understand that she must leave Romania. She escapes in secret — narrowly avoiding the police — through Yugoslavia to Italy, and finally to Chicago. But she leaves without saying a final goodbye to Mihai. And though she struggles to bury her longing for the past she finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth about her one great love. An extraordinary debut, Train to Trieste is a beautiful, powerful and intriguing love story that moves from passionate infatuation to profound understanding. Told in an astonishingly original, poetic voice Domnica Radulescu has shown herself to be a remarkable writer.