In a run-down flat resides Victor Knight, an eighteen-year-old orphan who lives with, and for, his younger sister Candy who he nurses through her terminal illness. On the advent of Candy's birthday she wishes to know one family secret: who are their parents? Victor discretely undertakes this task and starts off in search of clues to his parents' identity and whereabouts. When Victor is given 'clues', he is pointed in the direction of a clock-tower. Whilst trying to race against time for his sister's sake and demystify this monument's cryptic significance in their lives, he befriends a peculiarly helpful woman in a nearby church whose family affairs he finds himself inadvertently becoming more and more involved with. Unearthing a family history that doesn't want to be unturned sends Victor on a turbulent journey of emotions, leaving this teenager-turned-adult with a profound insight behind the concept of family and a dreaded sense of guilt.