David Benda, quien realizaría el último retrato de Sigmund Freud, es el nombre tras el que se esconde un joven y extraordinario pintor. David es judío y vive una intensa pasión con una bella joven vienesa aria, en un momento histórico terrible en que esas relaciones son un delito. Los nazis están a punto de entrar en Austria, y esa invasión será el preludio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y de una fascinante historia de amor, violencia y resistencia a la tiranía. David huye a La Habana a bordo del Saint Louis, el barco de los condenados, ciudad donde vuelve a enamorarse y donde desea ardientemente echar raíces y olvidarse para siempre de Europa y sus crueldades. Lo atormentan el recuerdo de una muerte trágica y la necesidad de vengarse de un asesino al que una vez consideró su amigo. Lamentablemente, tampoco consigue arraigar en Cuba. Otra vez tiene que huir a un nuevo país y, sin proponérselo, a otros brazos. En Nueva York se reencuentra con un viejo amor de juventud y se aproxima de nuevo a la felicidad. La historia de David Benda, llena de aventuras y desventuras, de amores y desencuentros, es la del siglo que terminó hace pocos años. De alguna manera, es la historia de todos.

David Benda, commissioned by Sigmund Freud himself to paint his last portrait, is the name that masks the true identity of a young and extraordinary painter. David, a Jew, is passionately in love with a beautiful young Viennese woman, an Aryan, at a time where such liaisons were a crime. Austria, his country, is in turmoil: anti-Semitism is on the rise, Hitler Youth groups are everywhere, and Nazi Germany is closing in. This invasion is the overture to WWII and to a fascinating story of love, violence, and the battle to endure against tyranny. With the help of a small Jewish resistance group led by remarkable man named Karl Toledano, David escapes to Havana on board the MS St. Louis, in what became known as the Voyage of the Damned. Thanks to Toledano's friends on the island, David is allowed to disembark and begin a new phase of his life. In Havana, his career as a portrait painter takes off and he finds love again in the arms of the beautiful and intelligent Mara, but memories of a tragic death and a desire to avenge it hound his thoughts. The years pass and once again he is forced to flee to another country and, unsuspectingly, back into the arms of another woman. In New York, David reunites with the protagonist of a youthful and innocent love affair and finds happiness again, even if only for a while. The story of David Benda, a story of adventures and misfortunes, of finding love and losing loved ones, is also the story of the previous century. In a way, his story is also our story.