That Once Was I: Book 2 Borrowed Place on Borrowed Time (ePub)

That Once was I is a trilogy of the story of Olga and Tata. Book 2, Borrowed Place on Borrowed Time, picks up with Olga, her opera-singling husband, Vassily, and Tata, her best friend since childhood, who have at last escaped the horrors of pandemics, war, and the insane destructions of the Russian revolution.

They enter China's most sophisticated and modern city, Shanghai, with the hopes of being able to earn and save enough money to go to America so that Vassily can sing in an opera house. But they all find themselves earning just enough to survive doing manual labor.

Then they meet an American couple who perform as an act on behalf of the Japanese government for workers who are building the railroads. The two couples get along well and the American couple invites Olga and Vassily to join their act and return to the United States with them.

At the end of their tour, they all collect their payments and decide to spend their last two days in Tokyo, seeing and doing what tourists do. They visit a great temple, a small zoo, and the tallest tower in the city.

Then, when everyone is happy and ready to depart for America, an event occurs that will change the plans of everyone in Japan and prevent Olga and her husband from going to America. And that is just the beginning of Olga's adventures in Asia.