Polish war exile Julia Smollen has escaped the horrors of a Nazi labour camp to forge a new life in California with her daughter, Natasha. It's an exciting time to be in America. With Sinatra and the ratpack dominating a golden Hollywood and the aspiring young Democrat, Jack Kennedy, emerging on the political scene, it's a time of optimism and opportunity. Under the protection of her former lover's great friend, Bill, Julia and her daughter thrive. Sent away to the best school her mother can afford, Natasha grows into a confident and wilful young woman. Yet she remains unaware of her true identity. She knows nothing of her father, the courageous German officer Martin Hamer, fatally wounded helping the then-pregnant Julia flee her occupied homeland. But Julia cannot keep the truth hidden from her daughter forever. A sinister figure from the past has tracked them down, with his own dark, vengeful agenda.