Summary

In the present, Cal, who lives in Berlin as part of the Foreign Service’s cultural division, rides the U-bahn on his daily commute, when an Asian girl catches his attention. He intuits from her old-fashioned bike that she is American. They briefly make eye contact before she exits the U-bahn, but Cal cannot get her out of his mind.

Cal reverses the story back to 1922, as Desdemona and Lefty decide to travel to America to avoid the encroaching Turkish army. Desdemona packs some silkworm eggs, hoping she can generate income in America, and they join the stream of refuges in Smyrna in August 1922. But General Hajienestis, the Greek in charge of defense, is far removed from reality, and orders the evacuation of the Greek army, leaving thousands of refugees stranded, as European battleships in Smyrna’s harbor look on...