The Grail

Sean McQuire experiences three different cultures. On returning from Canada after his parents had emigrated there while he was a child of five years, Sean, who only has vague memories of his early childhood in Liverpool, is exposed to the effects of culture shock, particularly within the school system. Later, after running through the trials and tribulations of adolescence, he studies at Liverpool University and becomes a teacher of English. His experiences in London are traumatic, both his personal life and his work with immigrants prove to be character-forming as well as highly challenging. In London, he meets a German student of art, they fall in love and a daughter is born. Later, due to Sean's precarious situation at school, which takes on a threatening character, he emigrates to Germany with his girlfriend, Una. After various positive as well as negative situations, the relationship breaks up, and Sean has to re-think his life. His search for love and emotional stability culminate in a pilgrimage to the USA, which takes him from New York to San Francisco, and then towards the Mexican border.