Two families, both with secrets in their pasts . . .
Phyllida loved the magical Channel Isle of Florizel, where she had been spending summers since she was a small child. But this year she was in disgrace - expelled from school in the middle of her A Levels - and not looking forward to the family holiday at all. But then she met Andras, a handsome young fisherman whose family was hiding a secret from the wartime occupation of the islands, memories of which still divided the tiny community.
Meanwhile Rachel, trapped in a loveless marriage with a tyrannical Oxford academic, decided to make a sudden bid for freedom. She travelled to Italy and discovered passion for the first time; she also, inadvertently, stumbled on the clue to an old wartime tragedy. A clue which led Andras and Phyllida to Tuscany - and to the discovery which would change their lives.