Lizzie has an unfortunate knack for attracting bad luck, but this time she's hit the jackpot. Losing her heart to her boss at the radio station where she works leads directly to losing her job, and with no money in the bank she's forced to swallow her pride and return home to her parents. As if that wasn't bad enough, her mother finds her work at the local care home for the elderly, and it's there that Lizzie meets Mrs Dallimore.

In her nineties, Mrs Dallimore also finds herself in a situation which she's reluctantly coming to terms with. Old age has finally caught up with her, and with her life drawing to a close she gives in to the temptation to relive the past by sharing it with Lizzie.

She tells Lizzie of the day when, as a young girl, and shortly before the outbreak of World War II, she left her home in America to cross the Atlantic to England where she hoped to meet her English grandparents for the first time. At best she hoped for a family reconciliation, but before long her visit turned into so much more.

As Lizzie listens to Mrs Dallimore's story, she begins to realize that she's not the only person to attract bad luck, or make mistakes, and maybe things aren't so bad for her after all . . .