Kate is a young, vibrant, English teenager growing up in the early days of World War II. The daughter of an Italian-born aristocrat, she's raised in a world of privilege with college the primary focus of her life. She is pleasantly ignorant about the war until a shopping trip to Paris during the opening days of the German invasion of France ends in calamity. Accompanied by her shopping colleagues and a young orphaned French girl, guided by an unseen guardian angel known to her as Alexander, and racing against time and the advancing German army, she embarks on a harrowing adventure as she tries to return to England. In a journey filled with intrigue, deception, sorrow, heartbreak, and love, Kate is faced with the reality of her untenable situation and the possibility that she might never see her homeland again. Relying upon her instincts and the reassuring inner voice, she learns that her survival relies upon the assistance of strangers and the new friends that she meets. Yet unknown to her, there are others intent on affecting the success of not only her journey but the millions of others like her seeking to escape the approaching tyranny.