receipt of a letter from a near death former work colleague and friend prompts a recently retired brewery sales rep to an unplanned walk, South to North, through England 
 As he walks, he reflects on a life lived from the sidelines 
 his lack of connection to his alcoholic father and early abandonment by his mother 
 his estrangement from his son and subsequent distance from his wife 
 his journey brings him to understand what is important to him and arouses a desire to seize these fleeting moments 
 beautiful story with a real, strong, central character