When Tatiana, an illegal Latin American immigrant, is thrown overboard from a ship and told to swim, she is expecting to find New York not an isolated English coastal estuary. She is rescued from freezing mud by Nathan, a rough giant of a man who lives in a camp by the beach. When Nathan refuses to take her to London, Tatiana leaves him. She thinks he’s a bastard and he thinks she needs to wake up to reality. She returns in need of his protection and as their odd friendship grows, they share an experience of a surprise visitor, which sets them both free.