This is the story of the actor Jack Burns, the bastard son of Alice, a tattoo-artist. Alice and Jack travel through the Baltic’s port cities in search of William Burns, Jack’s absconding father and ‘ink addict.’ But William, a church organist and profligate womaniser, is always one step ahead - always departing in a wave of scandal, with a new tattoo somewhere on his body from a local ‘scratcher.’
William can’t be found and Jack must grow up without a father, his childhood and education shaped by sexual experiences with older women. Later, as a young man with a beautiful face, Jack moves to Hollywood where international fame and stardom await. But with the shadow of his absent father always looming, Jack sets off again in search of the truth.
