On September 23, 1947, a number of the film industry's leading writers, producers, and directors received subpoenas that summoned them to Washington to testify before the Un-American Activities Committee of the House of Representatives. The McCarthy era had begun—and with it the destruction of hundreds of careers. This bold, multidimensional novel recreates life in the inner circles of the film industry in Washington, Hollywood, and the major capitals of Europe, portraying desparate people trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of McCarthyism.