SYNOPSIS

Darcy Grant, graduate teacher, arrives in a sugar cane farming community in Far North Queensland’s steamy frontier in 1985 to commence his first teaching job.

Without a mother figure in his childhood and confronting the messy singles’ social scene, Darcy is drawn to Frances, the hospitable mother of one of his students.

Through Frances, he is introduced to Silkwood, a tiny cane-farming hamlet, Far North Queensland’s version of a Sicilian village.

Frances seeks to match Darcy with her eldest daughter, Bianca, a vivacious flirt. At a social event, with locally distilled ‘grappa’ on his breath, Darcy mistakes Bianca for another woman.

After the event, Darcy tries to pretend it didn’t happen, although the experience reveals a yearning.

Darcy relies on rules and order, just as he needs in his classroom, but the power of attraction and his need for love is greater.

The orderly Mr Darcy Grant, unhinges and takes a progressively dangerous path in a community where family pride is protected, and defended if needed.