Friar Jochanaan's tenure at the Maria Laach Monastery ends abruptly when his lover for more than twelve years, Father Frederick Emanuel, causes a catastrophic fire in an apparent attempt to take Jochanaan's life. After recovering from severe burns, Jochanaan chooses to take the name of his father, Johann von Rondstett, and ends his monastic life to pursue his passion for photography in the secular world. His first major exhibit, Quartet of Strength, at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, is only the beginning of Johann's national and international success. During the event, he meets Mata Hassler, a reporter, and Erich Jakob Horowitz, a photographer tenured at Ludwig Maximilian University in München [Munich], the city Johann eventually calls home. Johann and Erich become lovers and partners. Johann, wishing to have a child of his own, achieves his goal through the artificial insemination of a surrogate. Fraternal twins, Joe and Becca, are the surprise result of the arrangement. Mata Hassler, carrying a torch for Johann von Rondstett from the moment she met him fourteen years earlier, enters Johann and Erich's lives in München, creating a triangle that ultimately leads to tragedy and triumph in their relationships.
