One man, one choice, two lifetimes. In one unforgettable night, thirteen-year-old Max Spiegelman's life splits in two. As Max sleeps, a house fire creeps through his parents' shop. Woken by smoke, Max manages to escape - orphaned, disfigured and adopted by an Aryan family who change his identity and his prospects. But when he awakes a second time to smoke, he finds he has the chance to save his parents and escape unharmed, facing life as a Jew in 1930s Austria. In each parallel universe, he is haunted by visions of what could have been. But in both worlds, he and his alter ego share a love with an enchanting, grey-eyed girl. . .