Fourteen year-old Lucy lives in Glasgow with her mother, half-brother Reuben and Reuben's father, David, but she has never forgotten the memory of her poet father, her died saving her as a baby from a terrible fire. Not only does his spirit influence Lucy's literary achievements in being chosen to represent her school in a poetry competition, but history repeats itself when Lucy rescues a crotchety neighbour who has accidentally electrocuted himself.