Sam Beauclair's life has hit the skids. He's late with his second novel, his marriage is on the rocks, and the bank is foreclosing on the apartment. In desperation, he flees to Melvile, a small country town where he once spent idyllic vacations with his novelist father. There he finds work as a handyman, and when a pair of siblings befriend him, he slowly begins to come out of his shell. But is it a fresh start, or just willful denial of reality? Will Sam's past and mistakes catch up with him, and will he ever escape his father's shadow?