2084: In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by UniCorp, where the memory of the “genetically inferior” has been chemically tampered with, Alowa escapes her captivity as a dispenser. She is sheltered in the reservation where dangers abound and her fears grow that she might be an “immigrant” – a bioengineered facsimile of a human being. She is told a boy called Solstice has her memories and she will have to enter History to find him.

1943:  Max’s family have been deported from England to Italy when Mussolini declares war on Great Britain. Max...