Horace Winter has lived an unexceptional life. Ever since that long-ago day, when the Very Bad Thing happened, he prefers to spend time with his butterfly and moth book instead of with other human beings. But then Horace retires from his job as assistant bank manager and, as he struggles to adjust to life without routine, he receives a devastating prognosis and is forced to confront the life he has (or hasn't) led. As he does, he meets Amanda. and Max. He gets a man jailed (sort of) and rescues the man's son (sort of). He discovers a letter his father never posted, and sets off on a quest that changes everything. As Horace begins to let life in, he starts to experience a world which had almost entirely passed him by. Will he discover the man he was meant to be before it's too late?