Charlie Hudson’s family have been taking summer holidays in Parker’s Head for as long as he can remember. But the year he turns 15, his life is changed forever. When he is beaten up by a couple of local hoods, the beautiful, ambitious Tess Bailey steps in to save him. While Tess tells him of her dreams to move to Sydney, Charlie falls in love with her smile; a promise of happiness that remains with him for the rest of his life. Sadness and pain simmer under the surface of this pleasant holiday town: a father tries to bury his homosexuality; a wife sinks a terrible memory in an alcoholic haze; a young girl struggles with bulimia; a young man finally beats back his abusive and alcoholic father.

But there are also dreams and hopes for a better future – and time slowly reveals just where these desires will lead. Moving between the long-past summer and the present, where dreams struggle against life’s harsh realities, the story follows the lives of those in Charlie’s family, friends and other locals who are inextricably linked with Parker’s Head and the shocking end to that fateful summer.