The author of a two-decades-old, but world-famous, novel in the last days of Communist East Germany is asked to appraise a mysterious manuscript that has dangerous political overtones, putting himself and his young lover in danger.

In the twilight years of Communist East Germany, Bruno Krug, author of a single world-famous novel written twenty years earlier, falls for Theresa Aden, a music student from the West. But Theresa has also caught the eye of a cocky young scriptwriter who delights in satirizing Krug's work. Asked to appraise a mysterious manuscript, Bruno is disturbed to find that the author is none other than his rival. But the unwelcome masterpiece is dangerously political. Krug decides that if his affair with Theresa is to prove more than a fling, he must employ a small deception.