Drs. Julian Reed and Barbara Sullivan are rising stars in their respective fields at elite Wallace University. They fall in love with each other, and the idea of cloning a Neanderthal from ancient DNA. Against the express directive of university administrators, Sullivan and Reed follow though on this audacious idea. The result is William - the first Neanderthal to walk the earth for some 35,000 years. William develops rapidly, but Sullivan and Reed soon argue over how to raise him. They divorce and at the age of five Sullivan takes William out of his laboratory “home” to start a new life on remote Quiggan Island. William finds some measure of acceptance in the progressive island community. But even here his distinctive physical features, his powerful physique, his unique way of thinking - his “otherness” - set him apart, and provoke fear. After high school graduation Sullivan wants William to remain in the relative safety of Quiggan Island, but William wants to join his peers in making his own way in the wider world. He moves into his father’s house near Wallace University where he forms a deep bond with Reed’s live-in girlfriend Sarah. But in the end the tension between Reed’s expectations and William’s own emerging sense of identity explodes into open conflict. William accepts that there is no place for him in this world, but he leaves behind a surprising legacy.