1985, Yorkshire. 72-year-old Margaret is known in her small Yorkshire village as a former nurse and widow of a local war hero. She expects to spend her remaining days in the comfort of the quiet life she has established. The unopened letter laid carefully on her lap threatens to bring the past rushing back.

1931, Edinburgh. Margaret, a university scholarship girl, falls in love with Ben, an Indian medical student. Forced to choose between him and her strict Catholic family, Margaret leaves her native Scotland for the heat and prejudices of British India. At the mercy of two cultures she becomes caught up in the events of World War Two. The consequences of her journey ripple across the continents and generations, leaving two families unknowingly intertwined.