The circumstances surrounding the novel's creation are detailed in Field's autobiographical account, Trapped in the Cold War: The Ordeal of an American Family.

Jewish medical student Rosa Eckart flees from a freight train in Upper Silesia, which was supposed to take her to a concentration camp.

Leon forces Rosa to become his lover, and she finds herself trapped in this relationship, with her only alternative being certain death.

However, days turn into weeks and months spent in a safe hiding place but in a peculiar relationship.

Director Agnieszka Holland skillfully and sensitively portrays the two excellent lead actors."