The heroine of this novel, Sofia, travels with her mother Rose to a coastal Spanish town in order to consult an orthopaedic surgeon about the pain (or is it numbness?) that has resulted in the mother being mostly unable to walk for many years. The father is long since out of the picture, having moved back to his native Greece, married a woman the age of his own daughter, and started a new family. The relationship between mother and daughter is strained, to the point of abusiveness. It seems that, her mother having been under a disability for most of her life, Sofia has been forced to care for Rose in her father’s absence since childhood, and Rose has done everything she can to make it as difficult as possible.