The place, the impetuousness of youth, the heat of a desolate town. Choices made unthinkingly. Young lives that would never be the same again, and the secrets that come to light years after.

Ursula's childhood is marked by a summer holiday in Candelo, a sleepy south coast town. It's the seventies and her mother takes foster boy, Mitchell, away with them. Charismatic, charming and troubled, Mitchell finds his way into their lives, his brief time with them altering who they are - forever.

Years later, when she hears of Mitchell's death, Ursula is forced to confront heartbreaking truths about herself and her family - and to realise the strength and sadness of family ties stretched to their limit.