She'd always imagined her song for Emilia would quietly develop, and one day she would sit at her piano or the desk, take a blank music sheet, and begin the first sweet bars. It did not begin like that... It's 1964 and Sandra turns 19. She is studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and playing piano with fellow student Billy at a jazz club. She wonders if she's still in love with Nick but he is far away, having left university to help his father on the family property during the drought. A letter comes from best friend Emilia that shatters their bond, and Sandra's long-promised 'Song for Emilia' becomes a storm of hatred and love for her oldest friend.