When Samuel wakes up on 1st January, he is convinced that the year ahead will bring nothing exciting or unusual – until a strange visitor bursts into his flat, determined not to leave. The appearance of Mishima, a stray cat, leads Samuel to a strange encounter with the enigmatic Valdemar and his neighbour Titus, with whom he had previously never exchanged a word, and is the catalyst for the incredible transformation that is about to occur in the secluded world he has built around himself.

As unexpected friendships develop out of these encounters and a childhood love is reignited, Samuel discovers, for the first time in his life, how small everyday acts can have the power to unleash a hurricane of feeling and awaken the heart from its slumber.