After a very challenging year, Twelve-year-old Jonathan Rossi has reluctantly moved to the Catholic primary school on the opposite side of town, where the expected discipline will teach him to control his anger and direct his high intelligence towards more constructive endeavours. However, in the vacuum of silence about his mother's disappearance, his young mind looks for reasons to appease his grief; Reasons that may, for some, be seen as ludicrous, nonsensical, and extremely unhealthy.

12 months prior, on one summer Sunday evening, his mother went for an after-dinner walk and never returned. He was told by his father, the authorities, and the local newspaper that the riverbank collapsed beneath her and she was washed away by the engorged river. However, since her body was never found, he believes that she may still be alive out there somewhere and can't come home for reasons he has yet to uncover.

As Jonathan tries to come to terms with his new surroundings, he discovers that the town has two sets of unwritten rules. One for the rich and powerful, and the other, dictated by those with God and wealth on their side. However, for the first time in his short, difficult life, he has found solidarity with others who also seemed caught somewhere in the middle. And the closer they become, the more he realises how much he's got a lot to lose.

With a future now filled with endless possibilities, will Jonathan be able to come to terms with his immeasurable loss? Or will his grief and lack of self-control just reinforce those negative stereotypes thrust heavily upon him by this so-called good Christian society?