The character of Maj. Foster MacLain does not appear in the novel. While the film opens in Cologne, the novel begins in Dresden, and an early scene depicts the fire-bombing of the city by British and American planes in February 1945. The uncle with whom Erika takes refuge in Berlin is called Albert Heringsdorf in the novel. Apolitical in the film, he is a Communist in the novel, and welcomes the Soviet invasion. The depiction of what German women suffered during the taking of Berlin by Russian troops is more realistic in the novel; Erika is raped by Captain Dmitri, the Russian officer who appears in the film as her protector. The counterpart of the film's Lori, as Erika's friend, is a lesbian with anti-American opinions. Cpl. Hanks, the African-American soldier Erika encounters in the film, is a much more important character in the novel. He is called Si Hicks, and he and Erika fall in love and enjoy many months of happiness. Not understanding the racial situation in America, Erika begs Si to take her to his home, which leads to tragic consequences for Si. Erika does eventually marry an American, the successful businessman Foster Middendorf. He takes her back to New York, but they become bored with their comfortable existence, and he accepts an important diplomatic position in Berlin. When he and Erika return, she has a final encounter with Irmfried von Diesborn, the aristocratic German officer she was engaged to during the war. She recoils from his vision of a militarized Germany rising again.