Athena Bonham--young, beautiful, talented, and maimed-resolves bravely to face life as a cripple. Through her friendship with an attractive family, she manages to create contentment and a new career. But her fragile grip on happiness and a promise of romance is threatened when the ugly secret in her past surfaces. She doubts whether love can overcome the double stigmas of her own recent disability and disclosure of the murderous history of her mother, a secret she has managed to suppress for many years.