After a period of study behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1970s a young musician returns to England to try and build a career for himself. He quickly finds that the shadowy and mysterious world he thought he had left behind has followed him across the Iron Curtain, entangled with an unhappy love affair that continues to pursue him in spite of his attempts to escape it. The world of stability, security and professional success that he strives to establish is constantly undermined and threatened by forces that he does not understand, casting suspicion on every aspect of his life far into the future.