Helena Lathbury and Julian Bogart first met at the Invisible Church in Joubert Park, Johannesburg, South Africa, during their first year at the University of the Witwatersrand. They remained friends throughout their undergraduate years, however, while Julian fell in love with Helena, she gently fobbed him off. After graduating they went their separate ways. However, a few years later, while in their mid-twenties, after a chance meeting, the incurably fickle but exquisitely beautiful Helena finds herself falling in love with Julian. Julian moves into the same Christian commune that Helena has joined and their Christian journey undergoes a radical renewal as they embark on a journey of faith into the realm of science and philosophy. Their journey soon becomes a roller-coaster ride that takes them from the orphan city of Germiston to the streets of Paris. While in the Louvre after being warned by a stranger, they discover that they have been mistaken for terrorists and their abduction by South African secret agents was imminent. This was happening while they were on their honeymoon in Paris.