In 1890s Ottoman Turkey, a young Cappadocian Greek named Stavros Topouzoglou dreams of escaping poverty and persecution to reach America, where he hopes to find freedom and prosperity. After witnessing a devastating massacre against the Armenians, Stavros sets out on an arduous journey to Constantinople, where his family plans to settle, but is instead drawn into the seedy underworld of the city's streets, where he faces exploitation and hardship. Undeterred, Stavros perseveres, eventually finding solace in a chance romance with a middle-aged Armenian-American woman and using her dowry money to secure passage to America on an immigrant ship.