Richard Dyer is a boy born on a Sussex farm in 1920. His natural gift for music takes him away from his home village and onward to world fame. He wins distinction as a musical performer. In World War 2 he fights with the RAF and wins honours and medals. He sees an old school friend die horribly in battle and exorcises the demons with a musical work that makes him famous. He has a tangled love life to the point where his Australian wife Stella drags him back to her homeland to get him away from rivals. He dies aged ninety-six, honoured in every country and continent. The county of Sussex and the city of Chichester resonate through the story.