Arriving in the Ukraine a young man clutches a tattered photograph. Fifty years ago a woman saved his grandfather from the Nazis and he’s searching for her. He has some strange helpers in his quest Alex, a translator who manages to convert English into wierd new forms; an old man who is “blind” and haunted by his memories of the war; and his guide dog, Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. What they’re seeking seems elusive and the truth is obscured by time, language and the horrors of war.

What they eventually discover turns their worlds topsy turvy.