Vivien's mother Hilda had always been the black sheep of the family: the only person to have a child out of wedlock; the first person in the family to shake the dust of Liverpool off her feet and emigrate to America; the very last person Vivien had expected to see again. But then, quite suddenly, her scandalous mother returns to stir up painful memories and barely suppressed resentment. In her quest to discover who her father is, Vivien finds she and her mother have more in common than she expected.