Ria Lynch and Marilyn Vine have never met Ria lives in a big ramshackle house in Tara Road, Dublin, which is filled with family and friends, while Marilyn lives in New England, absorbed in her career A chance 'phone call brings them together and they decide to exchange homes During that magical summer they find themselves borrowing something of each other's lives, until a story which began with loss and suffering grows into a story of discovery, unexpected friendships and new hope