Francesca Fairweather has never lived up to the extrovert image of her copper-coloured hair. Escaping a difficult mother and a disastrous love affair to become a student in 1960s Bristol, she makes friends of Verity, Dale and Morag. But their presence is not to be relied upon, and she continues to lurch from crisis to crisis. Her Aunt Goldie, her friend Zelda and her father each come to her rescue, but are not always there when she needs them most. In this coming-of-age novel, we join Fran on her journey of self-discovery. She is tested by loss and grief, by her strange marriage and by the secrets revealed when her mother dies. Will she ever find the father of her twins, maintain her independence and make a new life in Cornwall?