Stephen ought to lie down and die. In the aftermath of the Second World War he's lost everything, health, country, and honor, washing up in San Francisco in 1946 with no prospects. But by suppressing his past he's able to jump-start his present, and drive forward into the sunny future of the 1950s. With a wife, a career, and a home, he's achieved the American dream. Only when his long-estranged sister Star arrives does he realize it was all built on sand. If he doesn't open that door into the past everything he's won will be lost, forever.