Mary's story opens in Greenwich during the summer of 1983, when she is just 20 ... or maybe she is 21? At a point in her life when she has a good job and has found some security, her world is shattered by a series of traumatic incidents. These prove to be the first step towards Mary examining her past. Who abandoned her at the airport in 1964 and why? Who placed her in the convent and then disappeared into the night? She realises she won't be able to think about her future until she discovers her roots and also unravels the mystery of a strange presence in her nightmares. Three special people enter her life and help her to restore her sense of self. With their love and support, Mary begins a painful search for her identity. Her journey of self-discovery takes her to Suffolk, Ireland and finally to a part of the world she didn't even know existed - a sparsely populated territory in the far north of Canada where she is faced with a very different culture and a nation whose history is as harsh as her own. Here in this beautiful and challenging terrain, her search begins and her life changes forever - together with the lives of everyone around her.