Decadent, tantalizing Berlin in a Germany torn apart by war at the turn of the twentieth century..... The illegitimate, orphaned daughter of a cabaret dancer, Lilly Nelly Aphrodite's early life - and that of her only friend Hanne - is one of reinvention. Transformed from maid to war bride via tingle-tangle nightclub girl, she lands in the heart of the glamourous motion picture world and quickly becomes one of Germany's leading silent film stars. But when she falls in love with a Russian director, she has no idea that the affair will span decades, cross continents and may ultimately cost her everything.