17 year old Holly finds herself stranded and penniless in Marseilles, and is forced to take refuge in a hostel for battered women, with unforeseen consequences....Summoning her mother Ruth to the rescue, the two of them go to Majorca to stay with family friends. Once there, Holly is forced to reveal the truth about her actions, after years of secrecy and denial. Meanwhile, her parents face up to the role they too have played in the family's dysfunctionality. Family relationships, dishonesty, forgiveness and guilt are explored with compassion and humour in this unusual, engrossing and ultimately uplifting story. Holly may not be the most loveable heroine in the world, but her disaster-prone life, and the way she copes with it, make her a very memorable one.