In Lisbon during the Second World War, a German refugee waits for a ship to America. On his last night in the city, a stranger offers him two tickets if he will listen to the stranger's story. Through the long night the man tells of his wife and of years of flight across Europe, hiding from the Gestapo and moving from border to border. The novel is a story within a story, combining suspense, love and moral reflection. It shows the human cost of persecution and the importance of papers, courage and chance.