Young photographer Kate is reeling from the recent death of her mother, an orphan who became a celebrated ballerina. Grieving and lonely, Kate's only close companion is her ailing adoptive grandmother, Evie. Then Evie reveals a terrible secret, one that prompts Kate to rediscover a family history she had thought lost forever.

The story Kate discovers is one tightly interwoven with 20th-century history; from the heady days of the Roaring Twenties, through the economic crash and political tension of the '30s, to the grim reality of the war. But it is also the story of a couple deeply in love, separated by the events that supersede them and the rigid expectations of family.

Moving between London, New York, Paris, Venice and Corsica, this is a story of love across borders and generations, and of what might have been.