The story is seen through the eyes of the main character Namib Mushelenga, the daughter of a White German woman named Lody Mushelenga and a Black Namibian man named Omir Mushelenga, who just so happens to be a World War I veteran who fought with the French against Germany. The book starts with Namib at the age of three in 1933. Her parents suffer huge consequences as a result of their marriage and having a biracial child. In order to escape the Death or Divorce Law, they all go into hiding in a home where a Jewish family once lived. Determined to have a better, safer place for his family to live in, Omir surprises his wife and daughter with the news that they will flee Nazi Germany to live in Amsterdam. But this does not go as planned. The years roll by to 1944 and Namib is now fifteen-years-old. Omir had made a big mistake in choosing to leave Nazi Germany alone and then send for his family later. Faithfully and patiently, Namib has still clung to the belief that her family will someday be safe in a better place if only her father would finally send for them. Namib has also befriended a Jewish boy named Aven Beneluz and his family. For reasons that Namib does not yet know, her mother is determined to keep them apart. On the night that Omir is getting ready to leave for Amsterdam, Namib reveals to her father that her mother has been physically abusive to her to the point of leaving bruises on her body. In response to his daughter's accusations, Omir does nothing because he believes in keeping the family together at all costs. He knows that he must do something about it, but chooses not to. This will cause horrific consequences. To make matters much worse, her mother has been acting strangely and secretly having strong Nazi leanings. Will she abandon her family and turn them in to the Nazis or will she stand with her family in a united front against Hitler and the Nazis?