In the middle of the night in early April 1994, Arsène, an eight-year old Rwandan boy, flees his village as shouts and gunshots draw near. Carrying only a battered suitcase of his father's, hastily packed with a few essential items by his grandmother—who along with the rest of his family and the entire village will be massacred that night—he runs into the wilderness and wanders alone and afraid through unspeakable horrors.
Some years later, his story and that of a young writing teacher, Suzanne, converge. Arsène, as a teenager adopted by a Parisian couple and enrolled in a private school, is prompted by the teacher's assignment to bring in a cherished family object. He chooses the battered family suitcase, and his story unfolds, first in painful increments and then in a flood of confession he can only reveal by dictation. Suzanne in turn is reeling from the death of her father and loss of her own childhood home. The two find a deep, emotional connection that transcends race, history, and geography.