In 1942, an unseaworthy ship crammed with refugees bound for Palestine sinks, the result of British and Turkish officialdom. Jacob Lindmann, one of only two survivors, becomes the central character in this haunting novel. Twenty years on, Lindmann lives in a ramshackle boarding house. He remains detached from his surroundings and past until circumstances combine to shatter his personality. The resulting shock touches the other characters in the book, but, most profoundly, the stunned and disturbed reader. Raphael's novel dramatises universal themes of guilt, responsibility and love.