This is a novel that shifts between the time period of 1938 and 1989, two momentous years. 1938 was the year of Kristallnacht in Germany, the year before the start of World War II. 1989 was the year the wall came down between a divided Germany that had been separated since the end the war in 1945. Kristoff, a young apprentice to master stamp engraver, Frederick Faber, is suddenly forced to engrave stamps for the Nazi government. He also finds himself involved in the Austrian resistance, engraving false identity papers for those Jews who need to leave Austria before they are caught up in the Nazi net and sent east.

In 1989, Katie unwillingly admits her father, suffering from the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease, into a nursing home in southern California. She is left with her father's large stamp collection and wondering what to do with it when she meets Benjamin, a stamp appraiser, and who discovers a rare WWII-era stamp among her father's collection.Together, Katie and Benjamin set out to uncover the history of the stamp, only to find out it is more than just ink on paper, but contains a history of personal passion and tragedy.