In 1937, Muriel leaves her family in England to nurse children trapped in the Spanish Civil War. Braving the fascist bombardment, she becomes determined to help one injured boy find his sister - but she can never forget her own abandoned daughter. More than forty years later, Dee follows in the footsteps of her grandmother, inspired to overcome the hurt of rejection by her older lover and take a few risks in sex and war. Two generations apart, Muriel and Dee are driven into passion and danger in the heat and dust of south-eastern Spain.