Between glimpses of its ancient cultures, Crete comes to life in its spectacular atmospheric light. Its own brand of Greek island music and the vitality of its people are shaped by European echoes of the Vietnam protests and hippies flooding pristine beaches. The siblings' ensuing trajectories take them through Europe against the background of Chernobyl, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the completion of the Chunnel and the advent of the Internet. In the final chapters, set in Barcelona after his sister's demise, the growing tension between the truth and Reiner's revisionist history leads to a breaking point.