It's October 1945 in Southeast England, and twelve-year-old Eva Starbuck's whole world has just crumbled around her. It has been six years since her beloved father Ulysses was drafted to fight in the Second World War. Now that he is presumed dead after being captured by the Germans, living without him seems intolerable. But little does Eva know that she is about to receive a shocking surprise.

After her father's empty coffin is lowered into the ground, a heartbroken Eva attempts to go on with her life. But when her missing father suddenly reappears under bizarre circumstances, Eva and her family are soon left to wonder if the frightening consequences of his return to their English village may be worse than losing him in the first place.