you can read the synopsis of the story. This is not an easy book to read. I had a hard time with Ben's character. He made me angy in what he didn't do. Then I felt bad, because of all that he had to deal with. Its when you get 3/4 of the way through the book and you start learning about what makes him tick that the pieces fall together. All are flawed characters: ben, emma, georg. which makes this story so real I guess. Its not an easy topic to read about, but probably so true. Good read.