After her mother's funeral, Rebecca sorts through things in the empty apartment and accidentally discovers an envelope stamped from Cornwall. Inside is a desperate plea from her elderly aunt Olivia: to restore the old house, or the old lady faces eviction. Completely lost after her mother's death, Rebecca decides to head to Cornwall.
Upon arrival, the woman is greeted with an unpleasant surprise: Olivia is in the hospital, and she can only be discharged after the house is repaired! Despite feeling overwhelmed, Rebecca resolutely gets to work. Everything is against her: a lack of money, a foul-mouthed parrot, eternally dissatisfied neighbors… However, as the layers of paint, plaster, and decades-old grime peel away from the walls, secrets buried for more than seventy years are revealed to Rebecca. Secrets from a time when war raged outside the windows, but young Olivia's veins ran with blood, and love and passion drowned out the fear…
While repairing the house, Rebecca reconstructs Olivia's life story brick by brick, while also rebuilding herself.