In the aftermath of the April 1974 revolution, 16-year-old Afonso returns to his home town of Lisbon to live with his artist mother Noémia, having spent his childhood in Macau. Disapproving of the Estado Novo dictatorship, his father, a naval officer, is on a tour of duty there. When Afonso was 14, Noémia fell in love with an English journalist in Hong Kong and went to live with him in London, with Heitor’s consent. Heitor, a left-wing man living in a conservative Portuguese colony, was harshly criticised for complying with his wife’s request in a time when divorce was outlawed. But Heitor has a group of loyal friends and hosts regime opposition meetings at his house, hidden from prying eyes. Noémia introduces him to Chris, her journalist boyfriend, who rushed to Portugal with her to cover the social and political situation. From the first moment, Afonso feels a strange physical attraction towards Chris that will blossom into a fantasy affair through their shared passion for books.