A young German couple arrives in Halifax in 1865 determined to make a new life. They plan to go on to Montreal where Theodore is keen to establish a business. But Margaret is heavily pregnant and tired from the long, rough journey. A son, Kingsley is born and the couple decides to start their new life in Halifax. Theodore will start a shoe-making business with Ernesto, an Italian leather craftsman whose company he finds both useful and delightful. They become fast friends. Margaret sees their future as being integrated into the English social community of this new country. She makes it clear to young Kingsley that he is not to associate with that Italian family. Kingsley yearns for the light-hearted company of Ernesto's family, but absorbs Margaret's prejudices. His feet are set in shifting sands. The business prospers. Soon Theodore wants to expand, move it in new directions. They move to Montreal, leaving Ernesto in charge in Halifax. Kingsley marries Dorothy Gordon, a young pianist, and the family takes its place in the English-speaking social community. But tragedy begins to hit. The beloved first son, Kingsley, Jr, dies. The second son Charles, determined to become a violinist, defies his father, refusing to go into the business. He marries, brings his pregnant wife home, and goes off to New York to follow his dream. Dorothy frees their daughter Constance from the brunt of the father's despair by arranging for her to live with Aunt Felicity in Toronto. World War I rages. Theodore is devastated when he learns that Ernesto and most of his family are killed in the terrible Halifax Harbor explosion in 1917. The final blow strikes down Dorothy in the 1918 flu epidemic. When Constance marries a young Frenchman, Kingsley disinherits her, and the family seems permanently split. Kingsley's bitterness descends on the new grandson, King. The boy grows up without kindness, nursing a hatred for his angry Grandpa. He vows to become powerful and take the business away from the old man. He does join the company and finds he likes working, making things happen. He marries his cousin Lehlia and they look forward to the birth of their first child. King arrives late and over-tired for the birth. Shocked by the odd appearance of the baby, he blurts out, "He looks like a little drowned rat " So this child too is begins life in a strained atmosphere. He copes by scuttling around listening to everything, learning, but never speaking. At the age of eight, he has never spoken a word. Lehlia has investigated every option and has not given up hope, but there is talk of 'finding a place for the boy.' There is also talk of a cousin from the Philadelphia family joining the firm since it seems evident that the boy will never be able to. One day in early October 1949, Jeanette, granddaughter of Constance, and her friend Richard, stop on their way home from Toronto. Both are psychologists and they are interested in this odd child. The family begins to re-connect.