Helen has been married to Paul for 25 years. She lives a monotonous and frozen existence and is desperate, damaged and looking for change. Paul is on the brink of a breakdown, sick and tired of being in the poverty trap. Bitter, hypocritical and bigoted, his biggest fear is change.

Into their lives comes Tasha, a Romany Czech refugee awaiting her British passport and her chance for freedom - a concept taken for granted by all those around her.

The story is told in three revelatory narratives, each from a particular character's point of view, and reveals how the disintegration of an ordinary working-class family finally comes to a head when unexpected emotions are unleashed.