The life of Harry Morris was a classic 'rags to riches' tale: an East End Jewish barrow boy who became a feted nightclub operator in Knightsbridge and Mayfair. But there was a price to pay - his drive to transcend humble roots and a devastating early illness came at the cost of much myth-making and a family schism.
Now, in 1963, as Harry makes a swansong cruise around the world with his mistress on a 'millionaire's yacht', the Caronia, his mask starts to slip. Each port of call brings back fresh memories and challenging revelations.
Taking advantage of the crumbling of Harry's facade, Daniel Gardner tries to separate fact from fiction and understand why his glamorous but enigmatic grandfather disowned his heritage. It becomes a journey that will take him all the way back to the ancestral village in Poland and a universal story of emigration and reinvention. And in the process will he be able to help put the splintered ends of the family tree back together again?