The story, set in the tranquil small town of Millerton in the 1960s, follows Hattie Owen, an eleven-year-old girl facing a sudden disruption to her predictable life. Hattie discovers her Uncle Adam, a kind but deeply troubled 21-year-old man who has been kept hidden in an institution due to his mental illness (implied to be on the schizophrenia/autism spectrum). While Hattie's family struggl…