America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, six New Yorkers with interconnect lives grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell.

In the second part, Perestroika, Prior, Joe, Louis, Harper, and Roy continue to navigate love, loss, and loneliness in their attempts to pick up the pieces and find comfort in a chaotic world. Their stories quickly intertwine, as unlikely relationships emerge and develop.

After surviving Auschwitz, Peter Singer arrives in London as a penniless refugee. Determined to cling to life, he erases his past and reinvents himself. Gradually, he succeeds in building a thriving real estate empire, captivates women with his charm, and gains entry to the upper echelons of British high society. But when is exposed as having clawed his way to the top by exploiting his tenants and trampling over them, the empire he built finds itself in grave jeopardy.

Leave your troubles outside! Life is difficult? Forget it! There are no troubles here! Here life is beautiful! 1930s Berlin. The days are gloomy but the nights are glamorous. A touching romantic connection is formed between Cliff, a young American author coming to the Berlin looking for inspiration for his novel, and Sally, a singer in the "Kit Kat Klub", all while the Nazis rise to power