As a child, David Reynolds developed a fascination with the mysterious disappearance of his long-dead grandfather. Over the years he has pieced together the story: of tragic romance in Victorian London, and of the harsh lives of turn-of-the-century Canadian homesteaders. He recounts the tale with grace and humour, introducing a colourful cast of family patriarchs, cockney urchins and music hall artistes. All of this contrasts with the story of David's own childhood, of his thoroughly enjoyable mispent youth in the swinging London of the 1960s, and of his sometimes uncertain relationship with his father, a complex man best encapsulated as a warm-hearted monster.