After a fire burns down his family business and claims the lives of his parents, the young heir and master carpenter Shigetsugu vows to rebuild the failing venture with his late father's words in mind: “No matter how much the times change, what's important is for our kind to have compassion and dedication.” And then Ritsu, a housemaid with no relatives to rely on, comes rolling into his life with a group of children from a welfare facility who have nowhere to go, thus begins the dramatic last-ditch way-of-life story of a shaggily bearded carpenter! (Source: Abrams Books)