When her grandmother passes away, Allison McCarthy—a reserved, self-reliant sixteen-year-old—flees the UK in a desperate attempt to escape the terrifying grips of the foster-care system.

Arriving in Kleinmond, South Africa, she begins a new life as a foreign exchange student. But Allison is hiding her true reason for being there: she's searching for her biological father.

While staying with Marie Botha, Allison discovers that Marie's seventeen-year-old son, Phillip, brings out feelings in her that she's never known before. When Allison is diagnosed with a critical illness, the search for her father becomes crucial. Time draws tighter with each passing day, and the only key to her survival is a locket that belonged to her deceased mother.

Can Allison find her father in time?