In May 1939, when Professor Carl Mueller, his wife, Esther, and their children flee Nazi Germany and find refuge on the paradise island of Cuba, the family are all full of hope and dreams for a safe and happy future.
But those dreams are shattered when Carl and Esther are confronted by a ghost from their past, and old betrayals return to haunt them.
The turbulent years of political corruption, leading to Batista's military dictatorship, forces the older children to take very different paths to pursue their own dangerous dreams.
And - among the chaos and conflict that leads to Castro's revolution and victory in 1959, an unlikely love begins to grow - a love that threatens the whole family.
Having fled war-torn Europe, their Island of Dreams is to tear the family apart forever.