When Nicholas was four years old

his mother took him by the hand and led him away from his father, his brother and his Ukrainian home, across the Carpathian mountains, through the Iron Curtain and eventually to Britain, and a new life. But growing up in Bradford Nicholas is an outcast, his only friend the effervescent Faye. And when she moves away - then one day stops replying to his letters - Nicholas is left alone.

Years later, when Nicholas and Faye meet again, neither is sure about the other. Faye is about to be married, and Nicholas is not even sure that he recognises the girl who once filled his head. Meanwhile, a trick of fate brings Nicholas and his father, recently arrived in England, together. Both men, believing the other to be dead, fail to make the connection. With Nicholas's mother dead, no-one can help them slot their lives together. And Nicholas, unsure what to do about his first and what he is convinced will be his last love, turns to his father for advice.