This book explores the journey of a young South African girl of Indian origin, Romy, who is kidnapped and raped while on a study visit to the Sorbonne in Paris. She escapes from her captors and flees back to her family in South Africa but discovers later that she is pregnant. A friend of the family, Arish Metha, a psychiatrist and long-time secret admirer of Romy, claims the child as his and she agrees to marry him to gain social respectability.
Romy and Arish lead a happy life as husband and wife, but cracks begin to appear in this family when Arish undergoes a complete personality transformation, later revealed to be Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is only when Romy undergoes hypnotherapy to help her cope with the post-traumatic stress of the past 17 years that she discovers that her rapist could be Arish, her husband.
Before Romy can confront her husband with what she has learnt, he flees to Paris, taking Rusha and Rusha's cousin Arielle, with him which leads to dramatic events.