Rose has spent half her life mourning her only son Joseph, who went missing in 1950s Uganda where she and her husband were Protestant missionaries. One day she suffers a stroke which causes her to recall Joseph's disappearance so vividly that her hope of finding him is renewed and she persuades her neighbour, Lilia, to take up the search. Lilia's life centres on her cat and the stories she writes about him and, despite waning inspiration, she is reluctant to change. But Africa in 2005 seems at first preferable to terrorist-threatened Britain and she falls under its spell. Meanwhile, the shrinking world of modern technology is creating connections that could resolve the decades-old mystery. Will Rose be able to bear the truth? This is a story of the different forms that love can take, and the sacrifices it may require, which are often unforeseen and may later be the cause of bitter regret.