Recently single and listless at work, Henry Hayward spends his days in the solace of alcohol and his nights with a series of interchangeable partners. In a quest to recover, Henry applies for a citizen's observatory post in Afghanistan. Embedded in the regiment with his friends and fellow Newfoundlanders, a routine patrol suddenly turns fatal. And Henry, who survives, knows in his heart that he is responsible.

Upon his return to Newfoundland, tormented by guilt, Henry attempts to make posthumous amends by buying and repairing his dead friend's summer home. But matters are complicated by the grief of Martha, his friend's long-term girlfriend, with whom Henry once had an affair. Martha has a revelation of her own, which may change everything.