Louise Hart has endured a great deal of pain from her callous husband Paul but one cold December night in 1959 she can take no more. She & her son Davey escape their Coventry high-rise flat & flee to Tanglewood the dilapidated ivy-clad mansion where her mother Dolly runs an animal sanctuary. Miserable & frightened Louise longs to turn her back on the past & create a happy new life for Davey. But Paul is in trouble with men more dangerous than himself. Unable to pay his debts he blackmails Louise & those who love her keeping a shadowy presence in their lives. Even the arrival of Charlie Fox a stranger who becomes a true friend cannot guarantee that the future will be safe...