Callum Taylor has reached a critical point in his life. Since the death of his beloved father, he has found himself adrift, unable to fill his days with any purpose or meaning. But one afternoon, while visiting his childhood home, a fishing village along the banks of the Fraser River, he has a startling encounter with a figure from his past. The shock of this event triggers a series of vivid memories from the magical winter of his 10th year when, as a paperboy, he came into contact with an array of fascinating characters: an elderly woman whose eyes he never saw; a school principal obsessed with Lester B. Pearson; a Chinese family with shadowy secrets.