When an elderly man, a retired patternmaker, discovers a living baby on the beach of his declining English seaside town, how does he react?
 
How does he respond when a young woman enters his life and offers to help care for the foundling?
 
The old man’s rigid routines and the perfect balance of his daily life are disrupted by the presence of the infant and the single girl. The arrival of the baby and the girl cause clashes between him and his emotionless son. The son accuses his father of being soft-hearted, and the son accuses the girl of being a gold-digger and insinuates the baby is being used by her as a pawn in a sophisticated scheme.
 
The people in the old man's town express anger and openly show their prejudices when they discover the foundling baby has dark skin. The elderly man senses a lack of connection with the world he's built around himself over many years. Moreover, he's still responsible for tending to the infant! And cannot disregard the continuous presence of the single girl who has now installed herself in his home.
 
How can he ensure the baby is delivered to its parents? Will the authorities ever become involved? Don’t the authorities care?
 
Why do the people of his town find it so hard to be charitable?