Espen Arnakke is an aspiring writer who is writing a novel about his life as a teenager in the small Danish village of Jante. Feeling creatively stifled in the tiny town, he joins a ship headed to Newfoundland and instantly befriends the burly seaman, John Wakefield. The terrible conditions on board cause him to jump ship and he washes up upon the shore of Misery Harbour. There he meets the girl of his dreams -- that is until Wakefied shows up to steal her away. Wakefield gets the girl and proceeds to torment Espen mercilessly until Espen finally lashes out at him. As a result, Espen flees to Denmark to purge himself of Wakefield's memory the only way he knows how -- by writing a novel.