Eleanor is returning to Italy after a fifteen-year absence. She is out to lay old ghosts to rest and to examine at a distance the grief that stalks her. The journey leads her to seek out old acquaintances: some she can take up with again but others have moved on and attempts to rekindle an old relationship prove futile. As she comes to grips with past memories and a family tragedy in Australia, she finds an unlikely conspirator in Dante's birthplace. The narrative unfolds with mingled compassion and warm humour. Eleanor's old and new escapades reveal that she is still a risk-taker, as she embraces her sexual identity and makes her peace with her child's father - and with herself.