In Melbourne, between the wars, Maude Fitzgerald grows up devoted to her beautiful, fragile sister Isabel, determined meanwhile to pursue a career in the male-dominated world of architecture. Seventy years later her great niece Frieda Arnold lives in London's grungy-chic Camden Town, solving people's life problems, making weird jewellery, hopelessly in love. But Frieda is also on the run from her past life in Australia. A family crisis causes a reluctant Frieda to make a return trip to Melbourne, where she becomes fascinated by a portrait of the forgotten Maude. She sets out to excavate Maude's life story. Why did she never marry? What obstacles did she face in her chosen career? And what was her relationship with the woman who painted her portrait?