Malta, 2006. Having been abandoned by her mother twenty years earlier, Amanda (27) stands before the door of a woman she barely knows. Emma (56) fled her family after falling into a deep depression following the gruesome murder of her sister. As the door opens, Amanda is confronted by a neglected, overweight, and unkempt older woman consumed by obsessive delusions.

Malta, 1980s. Catherine Penza (28) is the acclaimed author of the bestselling crime fiction series Castillo. Her novels follow the investigations of a working-class police inspector who has become a beloved national figure. At the height of her success, Catherine is brutally murdered. Emma, a young wife and mother to seven-year-old Amanda, is devastated by the loss of her sister. Unable to cope with her grief, she abandons her family, a defining moment that leaves lasting scars on Amanda’s life.