Romulus Gaita has immigrated to Victoria, Australia from his native Yugoslavia with his beautiful German wife, Christina, and their young son, Raimond, in search of a better life. Here, on a lonely and harsh rural homestead, Romulus cares for his wife and son, making a living as a blacksmith and farm laborer. But the glamorous Christina feels increasingly out of place and depressed in this desolate and foreign land, and struggling with her role as a mother and wife, eventually deserts the family, running off with Romulus';best friend. Left alone to raise his young son, Romulus struggles against great adversity, doing his best to give Raimond a childhood, while trying to keep Christina in the boy's life.