It is the winter of 1939. The Nazis and Soviets have invaded, conquered and partitioned Poland. Ed Rybowski, 21 year-old, Brooklyn-born Polish-American Jew, is wracked with guilt as he studies, safely, at Princeton among the wealthy sons of the American elite. To take his mind off the looming war, his only friend, Billy Randolph, the radical son of Virginia's junior Senator, takes "Saint Ed"on a road trip, first to Manhattan and Harlem night spots, then to Mad River, Vermont for skiing. Along the way, Rybowski discovers the dark secrets of his father's past concealed in a box of letters...