Set against the tumultuous backdrop of war and peace from the 1920s to the 1970s, the narrative follows the love story of Florence and Frank during the Great Depression and the subsequent revival of a nation. Their journey traverses both America and Europe, highlighting the challenges and triumphs of their relationship amid historical upheaval.
Desperate to get some sleep, a young mother named May takes her son to the doctor. The pediatrician is sympathetic and gives her a prescription for a new drug to help with Martin's colic. From the first dose of the drug Loctonan, life for Martin, May, and her mother Abigail begins a sharp spiral downward. As her baby lies unresponsive, May begins the steps of a world she never understood-the world of medical lingo and legal case maneuvering that she never knew existed. The life of mother, grandmother, and everyone who becomes engaged with this case are changed in far-reaching ways; and at the center of it all is a boy named Martin, unaware of how he affects those around him. The physicians and lawyers become involved, and May and Abigail become adrift in a sea of language new to them as well and dollar figures they never dreamed about. Andrew Kirkpatrick, the attorney on this case, has never handled a case of this type and must learn quickly that he must at least pretend to know what he is doing or the attorneys of a very large corporation will eat him alive, and no justice for Martin will be gained. The medical and legal world is unfamiliar to most of us, and this trip is one we hope never to travel, but along the way, we learn much of people and their motivations.