Trevor McFarquhar lives a controlled, contrary existence. Traumatized by early childhood loss, the silence surrounding those losses, and then a sudden family relocation from the United States to France, he has no ambitions or dreams for his struggling Parisian bicycle shop or even for himself. Now in his late thirties, his romantic relationships are only casual-his friendships, few. He’s both aloof and exacting, holding everyone to his own high standards while being unforgiving of their faults.

But then two things happen. The 1995 transit strike forces Parisians through Trevor’s shop door to procure bicycles, and his once-sluggish business suddenly turns around. To his surprise, he is pleased. At the same time, Trevor enters into a relationship that threatens to destroy his relationship with his entire family. Humbled and ashamed, his veneer cracks, and he emerges from his cocoon a different man, ready to reconnect, to rediscover possibility, and ultimately to redeem himself.