Walter Soellner's parents immigrated to America from Germany in 1938. Many visits over the years to his family's ancestral home in Bavaria (called Kalvarianhof in the novel), and travels to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe inspired the author's writing. Much family history and extensive research into the first half of the 20th century provide historic detail against which the novel's men and women play out their passionate lives. Soellner is a retired professor of art and art history and lives with his wife Sandra in San Jose, California.