Berlin 1919, a civil war is raging between communists and nationalists. In the midst of this turmoil and violence a newborn baby is abandoned on the doorsteps of a convent. This is the story of that foundling, and of her quest to find an identity, a search which takes the child, the girl and the woman through a Germany of upheaval, fascism and war. It is a world in which belonging to the 'right' racial group can become a matter of life and death...