As a teenager, Tess falls into environmental activism - and the arms of a charismatic older protester. When he suddenly disappears, leaving her pregnant and alone, her happiness is shattered. Slowly, though, she rebuilds a life for herself and her daughter Mia.

It is not until Mia is nearly thirteen that she starts to question what her mother has always told her about her father and his past. Meanwhile Tess must confront suspicions of her own about the man she loved and lost. As mother and daughter pull apart, the certainties of memory and history begin to unravel and a single shocking question emerges: who was he?