When an Irish civil servant abandons his wife and twelve-year-old son for two summers to pursue his dream of becoming a painter, the stage is set for dramatic changes in the household. Despondent from the lack of income, the mother commits suicide, leaving Nicholas and his father to eke out a meager living. Years later, after a series of mishaps, Nicholass father burns his paintings, their house, and himself. Nicholas, now himself a civil servant, is a man with a mission. He casts aside his current life to try to regain the only surviving painting of his fathers work. His quest takes him to Galway where he finds much more than he ever anticipated.