This biography explores the life of Harris Furstenfeld, born in 1900 of Polish Jewish immigrant parents into the dire poverty of London's East End. Fatherless six weeks after his birth, his childhood is one of hardship and deprivation, yet his love of music transcends the squalor of his surroundings. His mind is filled with the immovable ambition to become a concert singer, no matter what the obstacles. He decides to change his name to Mark Raphael, and to forge a career for himself. From soup kitchens and second hand clothes to direct charity, bullying, persistent worry about making ends...

In 1939, to escape Nazi persecution and genocide, Margarethe (now Margalit) and her family flee Germany to travel halfway round the world, firstly to Shanghai, where stateless people were admitted without visa or passport, and then on to Manchuria.