Since Susannah Cates's husband was sent to prison three years ago, life has been a constant struggle to provide for herself and their teenage daughter. Nothing ever seems to go right and the most she hopes for now is that nothing more will go wrong.

Worried by her mother's unhappiness, thirteen-year-old Neve decides to take matters into her own hands. And when Susannah's closest friend Patsy discovers what Neve is up to, she immediately lends her support. As their plans start to unfold they have no way of knowing what kind of fates they are stirring, all they can see is Susannah's excitement, because at last a way seems to be opening up for her to escape her bad luck.

However, the spectre of horror is all the time pacing behind the scenes and never, in all Susannah's worst nightmares, could she have imagined her happiness causing so much pain to someone she loves...