Kirsten finds herself a long way from home when she takes a job in the idyllic Marlborough Sounds, caring for a seven year old girl who lost her mother when she was a baby. Sarah is a bright and bubbly child, but her overbearing Grandmother, rich and sophisticated, has ideas for her grandchild that Kirsten does not agree with.

To make things worse Kirsten is faced with the challenge of Sarah's commonly absent father Jamie and her roguish uncle Tyler. Two strangely different people, they tolerate each other only to be close to Sarah, the only remnant left of Brook, a woman they both loved.

Drawn in by this eclectic family Kirsten soon finds there is more to their story than meets the eye. She finds herself turning to the only person who is willing to answer some of her most pressing questions, Brook herself.