Sent by her family to safety in San Francisco, Alma Belasco escapes the Nazi invasion of Poland. At her uncle's home in California she meets Ichimei Fukuda, the son of the family gardener, and the two become the closest of friends. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Fukuda family is forced into an internment camp. Though they meet again and fall in love, Anna and Ichimei must hide their relationship from the rest of the world. Only decades later does the deeply unconventional Anna unfold the story to her grandson Seth and her troubled assistant, Irina Bazili, herself a refugee. Allende explores themes of love, friendship, age, and faithfulness in a tale that crosses decades.