When Jesper distinguishes himself as the Postal Academy's worst student, he is sent to Smeerensburg, a small village located on an icy island above the Arctic Circle, where grumpy inhabitants barely exchange words, let alone letters. Jesper is about to give up and abandon his duty as a postman when he meets local teacher Alva and Klaus, a mysterious carpenter who lives alone in a cabin full of handmade toys.
In 2013 there are no highways, no I-ways, no dreams of a better tomorrow, only scattered survivors across what was once the Unites States. Into this apocalyptic wasteland comes an enigmatic drifter with a mule, a knack for Shakespeare and something yet undiscovered: the power to inspire hope.