After responding to her son’s many letters pretending to be his father, a woman enlists a stranger to impersonate his dad during their meeting.

Nine-year-old Frankie and his single mother, Lizzie, have been constantly relocating since Frankie can remember, with their latest stop in a coastal town in Scotland. To shield her deaf son from the reality that they’ve fled from his father, Lizzie has created a tale that he is serving on the HMS Accra.

Every few weeks, she pens fictional letters from Frankie’s father, sharing tales of his adventures in far-off places. As Frankie follows the ship’s journey around the world, he learns that it’s set to arrive in his hometown soon. With the actual HMS Accra docking in just two weeks, Lizzie faces a dilemma: reveal the truth to Frankie or find the right stranger to pretend to be his father for a single day.

In Scotland, Lizzie is perpetually shifting from one town to another with her nine-year-old son Frankie and her mother Nell as they escape from her husband. Frankie, a bright deaf boy, believes his father is a sailor on the “ACCRA,” exploring various countries and regularly writing to him about his escapades. Frankie maps out the ship’s journey, and when it’s due to reach their seaside town, Lizzie opts to hire someone to impersonate Frankie’s father for just one day.