Lily is 92 and failing in health. Her family told her she was going on a little holiday, and although she finds herself still on her beloved Isle of Wight, to her horror she is now living permanently in a residential home at the mercy of Bridie, the 'horrible' one.

To make what is left of her life happier she thinks about years gone by, and once again wonders about the strange disappearance of her 14-year-old sister Violet in 1897. Her depression lifts when another new resident manages to shed some light on the 76-year-old mystery.