In his mid-thirties, Joe Lyons leads a solitary life as a writer, having never had much luck with relationships - including with his own family, whom he has alienated with the publication of his autobiographical first novel. So when Joe meets and falls in love with a young music teacher, he can't believe his luck. But, just as he is beginning to trust Suzie's feelings for him, the news comes that his mother is seriously ill. When he and his sister return to the family farm they discover that their mother's illness is hereditary. A terrible fate seems in store, with profound implications for Joe's future with Suzie. In the searing experience of loss, Joe, like his father, learns to understand the nature of love.