The year is 1917. Patrick Taylor, a history graduate from Philadelphia and dreamer by nature, accepts a position at the Commission for Public Information (the precursor to Voice of America) in Petrograd. Although soon disenchanted with his propagandistic job, Patrick is infatuated with the Russian city. Living in its cultural heart, he has encounters that will forever change his life. Patrick soon falls into the orbit of actress Liubov Zorina. She becomes his language tutor and introduces him to the Symbolist poetry of her former lover Nikolai Post. Patrick becomes absorbed in the verses of Post but also competes with him for Liubov’s affection. Woven into Patrick’s and Liubov’s stories is the chaotic tale of Russian-American relations in the early years of Bolshevik power.