Since the day Hugo Stern is sent into early retirement, nothing is as it was. His previously idyllic life as an elementary school teacher in Amsterdam slips away from him uncontrollably. Stern reflects on his childhood in a rural setting, his youth in swinging sixties London, which did not bring him the hoped-for freedom, and the love for his wife Merel, who is becoming increasingly estranged from him. Stern's last anchor is his son, adopted abroad with great difficulty, and even he threatens to outgrow him. The changes in his family and the societal upheavals put Stern to a tough test. Yet he also surprises those around him with his uncompromising nature, getting himself into trouble in the process. With "Stern goes," young author Thomas Heerma van Voss delivers a touching father-son story and a portrait of a unique individual.