Luke Fredericks is born into apartheid South Africa. His uncaring parents dump him on his gran. His blissful childhood among Zulu-speaking farm children is disrupted when be goes to school and has to spend time with his parents, as his gran becomes increasingly frail. He is bullied at boarding school and his university eduction funded by his gran's legacy ends with a relationship disaster. Encouraged by his uncle Geoff, he becomes a draft dodger and ends up in London after a stint in San Francisco, where new possibilities open up. His self-discovery and coping tactics for his social dysfunction lead him to understanding what those subject to bigotry go through.