During World War II, two African American musicians are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp. It stars Harlan, a Harlem-based musician, and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins. When they head to Paris to perform at a popular cabaret in Montmartre, the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation and Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwald concentration camp. The experience irreparably changes the course of Harlan's life. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose.