In alternating chapters, until they meet, follow both Rachel and Philipa. Philipa's life was dictated by her Victorian parent's distaste at their child's physical disability: a childhood of cruelty and abuse at the hands of a cruel Nanny. World War II was her porthole to escape into a world of adventure and courage. Rachel's young life is abruptly shattered by an accident which leaves her grotesquely disfigured. During her enforced excursion into therapy, Rachel is exposed to the sleazy underworld of respectable Edinburgh. Beneath the stunning skyline of Scotland's capital city, Rachel is drawn into a web of drugs, violence and death. Forced to share the intimacy of a hospital ward, the two women find they share a great deal more.