Lieve Joris returns to the house on the canal in Neerpelt in Flanders, where she grew up as the middle of a turbulent family of nine. As a child she goes to her grandmother, as a teenager she falls under the spell of Fonny, her artistically gifted oldest brother. He makes the wind of freedom blow over the lawn and shows her the way out of the village, although he himself will remain behind and derail gradually. His demise drives a wedge between her father - for whom he is the biblical 'lost son' - and the other children. Fonny drives them apart, but also keeps them together. By trial and error Joris finds her way in the world. She cannot escape the people in the house on the canal. Her native village was a place to leave, but her return was just as inevitable. In addition to a picture of the times, this family history also reveals the story of a village girl who finds her way to being a writer, against her destiny.