Stones from the River is the third-person omniscient 1994 novel by Ursula Hegi which chronicles 40 years of the life of Trudi, a woman with dwarfism, as she navigates the silently complicit, violent, and redemptive era of World War I and II Germany in the fictional town of Burgdorf.

[1] Ursula Hegi's status as a German immigrant to America played a key role in shaping Stones from the River.

Gertrude eventually accepts her infant daughter and becomes more of a mother and wife, although her mannerisms and actions remain erratic and require confinement both in their home and then at an asylum.

[3] After a miscarriage and due to increasing levels of agitation and unpredictability, Leo admits Gertrude to the asylum once more, where she catches pneumonia and dies.

[3] Exhilarated and feeling as though she is not alone, Trudi has a private discussion with Pia in her fabulous trailer and garners a sense of pride, wonderment, and identity for herself.

[3] In 1942, when Trudi is 27, she and her father begin to smuggle Jews into the basement of their homestead and pay-library with the help of some trustworthy neighbors and a tunnel they dug between their two houses.

Months of gentle but consistent interest from Max, an anti-Nazi water colorist and schoolteacher, results in Trudi agreeing to be with him romantically and sexually.

Max and Trudi confess their love for one another and share moments of happiness amidst the horrors of World War II Germany.

[3] Heartbroken, Trudi struggles to ever accept that Max died, instead telling herself stories of him falling in love and running away with another woman.

[3] The novel ends as grief-stricken Trudi walks along the riverside, contemplating her life, and ultimately experiencing the love of the people around her in a way as never before.

[1] In addition to having done extensive research on the lives of German citizens who endured the Second World War, including with the woman in Dusseldorf, Hegi cites her own experience as an immigrant as informing the perspectives she encodes in to her work.

[3] On account of her omniscient writing style, Hegi stated that: "It's my belief that the present, future and past merge within any given moment.