Christine, originally written under the pen name Alice Cholmondeley, tells the story of a seventeen-year-old virtuoso violinist who travels to Germany in May, 1914 to study with the renowned violin teacher "Kloster". Christine arrives in Germany just a few weeks before the beginning of the hostilities that would become World War I. Against the backdrop of impending war, Christine studies and prepares for her future. She falls in love. She experiences a precious moment in time when all is perfect. And, as the preface warns, both her dreams and her person succumb at the onset of the war.