It is late 1945. Germany and Japan are defeated, and a mother sits at her eighteen year old daughter's hospital bedside, telling stories to pass the time.Maria weaves the tales she heard at her father's knee with confessions from her life and an escape from war-torn Ireland to England. As life ebbs away from the daughter, Maria comes to understand the forces that have shaped her life.What is true, what is fantasy, and should she tell Alice of her one real love?