In the small inlaid wooden box, Matt's mother had kept all his childhood memories. Amongst them are many photos of Matt as a child, growing up. But something about the photos has always puzzled Matt — was that really him? Why did he not remember those clothes? The toys? And where, in the photos, was his sister Imogen? He has a strange unresolved feeling that there is something missing in his life. Imogen is living with her husband, a country vet, and their gorgeous baby in a rented cottage. Since her childhood she has loved the Summer House, a charming folly in the grounds of her oldest friends' beautiful and ancient house on Exmoor, and now they have the chance of buying. But her marriage is threatened when her husband refuses to live so far from his practice. Meanwhile, Matt begins to discovers the strange and tragic secret which has affected his whole life...