Austria, 1936: Esther 'Tess' Simpson works for a British organisation that rescues academics from the threatening Fascist and anti-Semitic regimes taking hold in Europe. On a dangerous trip to Vienna to help bring aid to Europe's threatened Jewish scholars Esther meets Harry Singer, a young Jewish academic and musician, and they fall in love. Tess works tirelessly to rescue Jewish academics and scientists from across Europe, trying to find positions for them in Britain and America. In 1938 she secures employment for Harry at Imperial College. Their love affair intensifies as the world heads into war, yet they are separated once again as Britain moves to intern European refugees. With Harry detained on the Isle of Man while still waiting for news of his parents, Esther and the Society plead with the government for the interned scientists' release. When Harry is eventually liberated, he discovers that his parents have fought their own path to freedom in America and he is forced to make an impossible choice: stay with Esther and turn his back on his parents, or follow them to reunite his family.
