At the dawn of the 1920s, Rosie and Daniel move to Ceylon with their small daughter to start a new life, attempting to put the trauma of the First World War – and its effects on their marriage – behind them.

Back in England, Rosie's sisters are dealing with impossible challenges in their searches for family, purpose and happiness. These are precarious times, and they find themselves taking unconventional means to achieve what they want. Around them the world changes, and events in Germany take a dark and forbidding turn. And soon there is no going back . . .