Ruth's death in nineteen ninety-four surfaces a long held suspicion from within her family that she had many secrets, especially about her much guarded younger life. Speculation heightens when Mary Morgan, a friend from her youth arrives at her death bed.

Mary will become the custodian of Ruth's secrets; charged with finding the three children Ruth abandoned when they were infants.

A notification in the personal column of The Times brings Ruth's abandoned children face to face with her life story as they uncover the shocking truth about their mother.

But in the end, there is one final twist.