The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe and never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black. Fifty years later, Hiero`s bandmate and the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin and uncovers secrets of the past. Esi Edugyan weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don`t tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they just might tell it wrong...