This novel is not unlike Dante's Divine Comedy, in which Dante travels first into hell, then through purgatory, until finally he reaches paradise and bliss. This novel also starts in hell and ends in heaven. For David, life was hell from the first moments he can remember. He has no family and has been raised in a Nazi concentration camp. But by the end of his journey, he has been reunited with his mother, even though he didn't even know his mother was alive at the beginning of the story. This is heaven, to be reunited to one's loved ones and to live a happy life with them.
There is a very interesting scene where David figures out that he has been secretly journeying toward his mother all along. As he passes through Switzerland, he is stopped on the street by an artist who wants to paint his portrait. He allows it, and while he is sitting for the portrait he sees a portrait on her wall of a woman he already feels well acquainted with for some reason. She tells him she was a Jew who was in a Nazi concentration camp when a German guard fell in love with her and freed her. Suddenly, David knows it is his mother.
This is especially interesting because it means that part of David's "heaven" is that his mother will understand his suffering, unlike Maria's family. Maria's family is a sweet family, by the way, and they open their home up to David, but they are correct to be hesitant. David will need a long road of healing and mental health support, although he is disturbing to people who haven't suffered, his mother has suffered enough to be understanding. So David's heaven is to be understood, to be safe, and to be united with his family.
