Hal O. Costigan, candidate for Congress, is the kind of man people envy. He has a loving wife, a supportive family, and a devoted mother. Friendly, intelligent, successful, he is a man on the rise-until he is caught in an affair with a high school girl and commits suicide. On election day the reporters have forgotten him, and the radio doesn't mention his name. Around Hal's hometown, however, a handful of people continue lives that will be forever...