A multi-layered story of love, art, life, relationships - and place. The architect Klaus Lehmann loves his wife Elsa with a passion which continues throughout their married life. Half a century later, researching his life and work in the village of Steerborough where he once lived, Lily pores over Klaus's letters to Elsa. As she pieces together Elsa's story, she becomes aware of an absence in her own life and, with her partner Nick left behind in London, too busy to write or visit, she finds herself increasingly enthralled by this village by the sea and its unusual beauty.