Set in Kent in 1940, Alice is a fiercely independent writer who prizes her solitude. Haunted by an unhappy love affair, she occupies herself with her work and when Frank, an evacuee from the Blitz, is unexpectedly placed in her care she resolves to quickly be rid of him. But as the spirited young boy opens up to her, Alice begins to reconsider her past and her own way forward, discovering new resources within herself and new possibilities for her future