When 16-year-old Bertra Vogen fled Bohemia in 1870 for an arranged marriage to a New York City hardware merchant, she believed she had left behind her most egregious mistake. But 60 years later, now a widow living in Connecticut with her son and daughter-in-law, she feels compelled to return to her beloved homeland with her 16-year-old granddaughter, Celeste. Bertra hopes that her only heir will embrace the wonder of their Bohemian heritage and discover the wisdom of her own “heart code.”

But Celeste’s mother, Myrtle, an Irish immigrant, has other plans for that very same summer. The next four years do not unfold according to anyone’s plans as Celeste struggles to find her own way, torn between her mother’s social-climbing desires and her grandmother’s counsel to follow the yes in her heart.

Set in the 1930s, this heartwarming, inspirational adventure follows three friends, two families, and one unforgettable grandmother over two continents and four years as it reveals the map for discovering one’s own “heart wisdom” … and the secrets of the Bohemian Way.

Hahn, who earned a masters degree in communications from U-M in 1979, grew up in Glen Rock, N.J., and now resides in Bucks County, Pa.