Antal Varga, a Budapest violinist, is 78 years old when a young American stranger places a yellowed music sheet into his hands. With shock he recognizes his own teenage handwriting, for he himself wrote this piece in 1945, when his city was under siege. Desperate to talk with this American woman, Varga enlists his grandson Kristóf to translate; and he finds that the woman, Lisa, shares his family's painful heritage.

Now his grandson and this young American press him for the story behind the music, and especially behind its shattered ending. For decades he's hidden this story of war, love, jealousy, and loss. Can he bear to tell it now? Can they bear to hear it?

Cautiously Varga, Kristóf, and Lisa open the music and its hard secrets, hoping that although pain has extended over generations, perhaps love will extend further still.