Fate brings together five idiosyncratic characters in Brighton - Marion, a complicated angel working in a nursing home; Jim, a bohemian poet, traumatized by nuclear testing on Christmas Island; Tung, a Malaysian ex-serviceman who once served in the colonial British Armyto seek prosperity and prestige in England; Paula, the daughter of Polish dissidents dreaming of America, and Harold, an ex-rock singer, and a compulsive architect of castles in the air.