After the death of his mother, Albert 'Shoe' Horn is left to provide for his alcoholic father and look after his younger brother Bobby—a teenager with the mind of a child. After Shoe inadvertently kills a man in a fight, he must try to balance the need to protect his brother and his desire to protect himself. Shoe’s story unfolds against the 1922 union strikes in England, as he must choose between living his father’s life, with his brother, or a new life in America, alone.