Emmett Brown was a charming young man who quoted poetry and read to his wife and young family from the great novels of the world. But failed efforts to win a fortune at the racetracks turned Emmett into a broken down gambling drunk who terrorized his wife and children. Starting at Emmett's funeral and reflecting back, the two eldest Brown children--Louise and Rob--recount the rise and fall of their family. Each of Emmett's children must address the fallout of Emmett, and each comes to discover that they loved and learnt from their father in both his golden and his dark days.