A fast-moving tale of bondage, redemption and the total enslavement of youth in post-war East Germany.

Battle-weary David Ardmore returns to Chipping Norton in South-West England, not knowing he has an unborn child from his chance encounter with Helga Stein in Thuringen, which becomes part of Soviet East Germany. Alone and expecting a child, Helga moves to Chemnitz in the hope of finding a livelihood in a big city. 
In time, Konrad, born to Helga, overcomes the invasive practices that enshrine Socialist Ideology to excel in his schooling in farming to assist with food production there. Still under regimental control, he eventually journeys to Basingstoke in England to get  acquainted with his father and is entangled in espionage activities by the East German authorities. 
But his repeated absence from his dedicated work at Boxbury Farm leads to the active engagement of detective Barton Smith