In 1947, Milly Stevens walks out of her husband's Norfolk home The isolation of the game-keeper's cottage, the primitive conditions, the never-ending demands made by her father-in-law, and the long absences of her husband, Tom, have become too much to bear As the door slams behind her, Milly vows she will never return But now, forty years later, Milly does return, resolved to straighten out the past before it is too late In Norfolk Milly meets Carla, a young artist also returning home, and as the two women's paths begin to cross, both their lives are gradually transformed forever