When Samuel wakes up on 1st January, he is convinced that the year ahead will bring nothing exciting or unusual – until a strange visitor bursts into his flat, determined not to leave. The appearance of Mishima, a stray cat, leads Samuel to a strange encounter with the enigmatic Valdemar and his neighbour Titus, with whom he had previously never exchanged a word, and is the catalyst for the incredible transformation that is about to occur in the secluded world he has built around himself.As unexpected friendships develop out of these encounters and a childhood love is reignited, Samuel discovers, for the first time in his life, how small everyday acts can have the power to unleash a hurricane of feeling and awaken the heart from its slumber.