The women in Helena Mayrick's family have always led secretive & tragic lives & when Helena's comfortable marriage is devastated by her husband's violent death it seems that she too is locked into the cycle. Helena is invited to research a book on her grandfather H. Donaldson the celebrated Edwardian photographer. At first she is reluctant to immerse herself in family history particularly as Donaldson's relationship with her grandmother Ruth is shrouded in mystery & turmoil. But gradually as the story of enigmatic Ruth & the elusive passionate Donaldson unfolds Helena finds that the past like the present was shaped by cruel dilemmas & the demands of love...