Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a teacher raising his two children following the death of his wife two years earlier. Experiencing strange phenomena late at night around his family home, Michael isn't sure if he is dreaming or if something more sinister is at play. A distraction lies in an international literary festival that his town plays host to which attracts authors from all over the world. Working as a volunteer for the festival, Michael is assigned to look after Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), an attractive writer of ghost stories and tales of the supernatural. Becoming attracted to Lena, Michael tells her of his experiences. However, Lena's attention is drawn away by Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), a bestselling novelist who harbours his own issues with letting go of the past.

影片讲述了23岁的雅各遭遇了生活磨难——父母双亡，一贫如洗，被迫从兽医学校肆业。后来，他成了“班齐尼兄弟天下第一大马戏团”的兽医，开始了艰辛的巡回表演。在他颠沛流离的人生中，他亲历了美国经济大萧条时期的恐怖岁月，在马戏团内部，他也亲眼目睹了畸型人与小丑轮流献艺、以及舞台背面的喜怒哀乐。