Two students in Copenhagen, one born in a prison — the letters O.T. are branded on his shoulder, and they stand for Odense Tugthus, the house of correction — and the shame he cannot outrun through a life of learning and society. Andersen was a cobbler's son who arrived in Copenhagen at fourteen with nothing and was educated at the king's expense; his novels are almost forgotten behind the tales, and this one is about being marked for life.