Kirstie lives in exile on the small Shetland island of Yell after the end of yet another torrid affair. This time, she knows she went too far. Her desperate behavior caused the breakdown of her loverās marriage. Taking up residence in her grandparentsā croft, which has lain empty since their deaths, wanting time to reflect on her life and disastrous relationships, Kirstie begins to write about her obsessive behavior. What she hasnāt realized is that the island is full of relatives she never knew she had. Kirstie has spent her life feeling unloved, hurt, and angry. She wonders what part this plays in the obsessive way she is drawn into relationships. As Kirstie allows some of the local people into her life, she learns of her mother's tragic story and begins to reassess her motherās behavior. As she grapples with her past and begins to settle into her present, her mother, Morag, decides to visit, throwing Kirstie into turmoil once againāand revealing even more shocking truths.