During the hazy Newcastle summer, Nick's grandfather Geordie lies dying. A proud, resilient man, he has long outlived his peers but not his memories of the trenches where he saw his brother die. Now, on his own deathbed, Geordie starts to relive the horrors of his youth.

Meanwhile, at Lob's Hill, on the other side of the city, Nick and his pregnant wife, Fran, are failing to keep the peace in their increasingly fractious home. In an effort to unite the family, Fran persuades the children to help her redecorate the shabby living room. Gradually, as they peel the old wallpaper away, a vigorous and obscene drawing of an Edwardian family is revealed. The portrait is an exercise in hate: it lays bare the history of their home and casts a terrifying shadow over the family.

As events at Lob's Hill unfold, Nick begins to learn his grandfather's buried secrets and comes to understand the power of old wounds to leak into the present.