When Fenella Gilmore disappears with Mark Lawson, following his notorious trial, the tapestry of a happy family life is severed abruptly. Jason, her brilliant and devoted husband, withdraws into a dark world of his own; Michael, their son, changes from a good-natured boy into a disillusioned and reckless youth, and eighteen-year-old Karen - sensitive and emotional - flounders between bewilderment and the fear that she is by nature as promiscuous as her mother. Into their lives come Dr Dave Radnor and his elder cousin, Honor. Their influence on the Gilmore home is unpredictable and far-reaching. What happens when the threads of family life are re-woven by outsiders? And what will happen when the missing Fenella is found and brought back?