Alastair Luce is a dreamer, one of three who tell this tale. A Canadian expat living in a 1950s New York City suburb, he's an artist, a quiet man who paints houses for a living, fears atomic holocaust, drinks too much and worries about his suffering child, Grace. His wife Nora is a passionate American who misses the excitement of wartime life and finds an outlet—and a lover—during the Red scare. Just before the accident that will drive so many future events, Alastair offers a ride to their teenage neighbour, Claire, who as a witness to tragedy and a wry observer of suburban mores, continues the story. Later in Toronto, Alastair's exiled daughter Grace picks up the narrative, giving voice to her fury, an artist who works to "burn" the city down with brilliant colour. All three are bound together by their history, as a crisis draws their lives to a climax. It's then that Grace ventures homeward for the first time, into a startlng vision of the unknown.
