Growing up in war-torn England, Livvy and her brothers are separated from their family and sent to live with strangers. Already a nervous child, the emotional impact has a profound effect on Livvy and most of her life she struggles to overcome her anxiety. At the age of nineteen, she immigrates to Canada and within a few months finds herself pregnant. Her marriage to Russ Walker turns out to be a failure and she returns to England only to realize that she has lost her independence. Back in Canada she makes a new life for herself and her daughter and meets an extraorinary man, Dan Charette. They become lovers business asssociates and eventually lifelong friends. At the age of thirty-nine Livvy believes she has found her soul mate but John Freeman turns out to be just another mistake......