When awkward teenager Charlie Hudson is beaten up during a family holiday at the beach, beautiful Tess Bailey rescues him - and sets the unusual course for his life. Matt Nable follows the fortunes of Charlie, Tess and their families and neighbours. Their lives intertwine, unravel, straighten, and become tangled again. A father tries to relive his football career through his son; a mother deserts her children in an attempt to find herself; a daughter purges to take control of her life. This is a portrait of plans gone wrong, a lament for what could have been, a salute to the power of redemptive love, and a brave examination of contemporary society.