Horace Winter has led an unexceptional life. Ever since that long-ago day, when the Very Bad Thing happened, he prefers to spend time with his butterfly and moth book instead of with other human beings - an interest that was passed on to him by his father.
But shortly after his retirement from his job as an assistant bank manager, Horace receives some devastating news and is forced to confront the life he has led (or hasn't led). As he does, he meets Amanda. And Max. He gets a man jailed (sort of) and rescues the man's son (sort of). He discovers a letter his father never posted, and sets off on a quest that changes everything.
As Horace begins to let life in, he starts to experience a world which had almost entirely passed him by. Will he discover that man he was meant to be before it's too late?