'There is a place in the hippocampus the size of an almond called the amygdale in which is stored our emotional memory. Anything in our history that is a stimulus to our emotions resides there... The kernel of Catherine is there for the picking - I am searching for the correct tool like at Christmas when the nutcrackers have been misplaced. A hammer will shatter it.' Catherine is in a post-traumatic state and Simon, an eminent psychiatrist, is employed to help her recover her memory in time to give evidence in the trial of Joshua James - a young man accused of raping her. As the date for the trial approaches, Simon becomes absorbed with the workings of his patient's brain, as he grapples with his preconceptions of truth, memory and perspective.