Halifax, Nova Scotia: In a span of less than two years, Walek Szeyk, a second-generation Polish immigrant, loses his parents to a tragic accident, tries and fails to make something of himself at university, and through a conflation of financial ignorance and unmitigated grief loses his home. But when, on Fool's Day 1941, he accepts a position as "useful man" at the Manse Calvo, Walek begins his life anew-a life that will intersect with that of the hotel's heiress, herself the victim of a terrible loss.
Actual historical incidents-including the Halifax Explosion of 1917, Winston Churchill's surprise landing at Halifax Harbour, and the VE Day Riots that nearly destroyed much of the city of Halifax-lend intense narrative power to this deceptively quiet story of the mysteries of despair and hope that lie in finding true connection with another human heart.
