Paul Brickman, an exiled artist in 1970s England, is haunted by his memories of the decade he spent at the Bauhaus art school and the life-changing consequences that have reverberated through the years, especially with regard to the love of his life, Loti, and his best friend, Walter.

Weimar, 1923. Paul and his tight-knit group of fellow students are seduced by the charismatic teachings of the Bauhaus. The group quickly becomes a hotbed of unrequited love and burgeoning sexuality. Supposedly friends, it doesn't stop rivalries and betrayals developing between them, which follow them as the school relocates after being closed down by the far-right government, first to Dessau and then to Berlin.

As the group disintegrates under the pressure of their own secrets, lies and love affairs, the novel builds to a powerful tragedy exacerbated by Hitler's seizing power in 1933.