In Alexandria at the beginning of the twentieth century, the multilingualism of everyday life, the multicultural festival, the rapid enrichment, but also the equally sudden downfall, have their own rules that the Alexandrians know well. Somewhere in the background, History emerges: two world wars, interwar Europe, national disasters in the Mediterranean, the fall of naval empires, the rise of nationalism.

A family of Greek tobacco manufacturers lives its small miracle against the backdrop of the city's Greek community. Their fate is inextricably linked with the Lebanese Elias Khoury and the Franco-Swiss Yvette Chandon. Stories of commerce, politics, love, and espionage. Every person of the diaspora has their story, which they are always willing to tell, often omitting a small secret.

From Constantinople to Marseille and from Paris to Vienna, cosmopolitanism puts on its own show. But the moment comes when the lights dim in Alexandria and the city slowly but steadily sinks into the darkness of decline.