Two years after the death of her abusive husband, Lissy wakes up one morning, finally realising that her life can be her own once again. The guilt and recriminations of the last two years have finally faded away. The memories of cruel mental bullying and brutal physical treatment from her late husband and the constant haranguing from her mother have become insignificant. She decides to sell her London townhouse and buy her dream home in Devon. Lissy unearths the magazine in which she had first seen the advert of the cottage for sale; this is where she should be; this is where she will live her new life. She cannot envisage, at this point, that anything could stop her. She arrives in Devon, having discovered the cottage was still for sale, although derelict. She excitedly explores it, imagining how it will look once renovated. But Lissy has no inclination of the heartache that will result from the white shadow that fleetingly passes across the kitchen window. It is a moment that will...