Laurence and Edith Shaw had nine children together, but there were suddenly only five of them left. Each with a family - a life - of their own. Theodore had been born fifth, but by the time he was twenty-two he had lived through a war where he had sacrificed his older brother, his leg, and his relationship. When his eldest sister died in December 1918, Theodore and his fiancée were suddenly responsible for her four children as well as his younger siblings.

The arrival of a familiar face to two of his sisters shakes things up as his custody of his nieces and nephews is thrown into question alongside long-dormant secrets that he thought died along with his family members.

Theodore. Evelyn. Frank. Oliver. Edith.

The five of them had not always been five, but war and sickness were cruel. Nine became five overnight, it seemed to them, but they were not alone.

Their family's secrets haunted them just as much as their ghosts did.