Polly and Liv are American students at Cambridge University. Both strangers to their new home, both survivors of past mistakes, they quickly become friends and find a common interest in Nick, a handsome, charming and seemingly guileless graduate student. But a betrayal, followed by Nick's inexplicable disappearance, brings long-buried histories to the surface.

A police investigation raises countless questions, with the newspapers reporting all the most salacious details - from the crime that scars Polly's past to truths concealed in old photographs. Soon the three young lovers will discover how little they truly know about each other, and how devastating the ripples of long-ago actions can be ...