Born in Holland after the war, a son grows up an outsider in the midst of his family. Living in isolation among the dunes of coastal Holland, he looks on as his half-caste half-sisters are mocked for their 'blue skin', endures the bizarre and brutal military training his father puts him through, and wonders about the wartime hardships his family suffered but never discusses. Years later, the middle-aged son begins a quest into his family's past in Indonesia, and the origins of his father's strange mix of charm and cruelty. Despite his sisters' denials and his mother's evasiveness, details surface about the incredible endurance of his father, one of the few survivors of torture in the camp. Returning always to the Dutch coast where he spent his childhood, the man comes to a final acceptance of his father and a new understanding of their relationship.