In 1962, Jo Catterall, a young English woman, seeking freedom, visits Israel. On the boat out she meets Gilbert, a slightly older kibbutznik who has spent some unedifying time in England, and who is returning home with yearning, a little chastened. An uneasy relationship develops between them which is marked with both of their dispositions - his drop in confidence and contrasting maturity, her youthful wish to spread her wings and celebrate her...