In this novel we meet Alison Wheaton and Charlie Dunn, a couple who are very much in love. Alison has survived cancer but only just; she came very close to passing away. The story begins shortly after Alison’s brush with death. The couple are taking an extended sabbatical in a small Icelandic town called Husavik. It is a chance for them to reconnect as a couple and for Charlie to finish his second novel. The story is about a couple finding their way back normality; that is until Alison starts to suspect that something is not quite right. 

What begins as a romance slides into an odd, dreamlike surrealist fantasy that leaves Alison questioning what is either the strangeness of the world, or her loose grip on reality. Alison - who is the type of girl to pull at loose threads - soon realises that this particular loose thread, the one she is intent on pulling in this snowy landscape, could unravel her whole world. 

Meanwhile, back in Coventry young Jessica Kirkpatrick has finally plucked up the courage to leave her abusive boyfriend. There have been a few odd incidents lately that have slowly woken her up to the reality of her situation, not least of which was when a strange elfin character led her through a crowd, pointed out a book, and then disappeared around the autobiography section. That book, was written by Charles Dunn and the story of a man trying to break free of his abusive partner was so familiar to her that it became the push she needed. 

Jessica escapes the shadow of Kelvin the waster only to realise that the true shadow she lives in has been cast by her overcritical mother and disinterested father. She moves in with her Grandad (her Bampi) and embarks on a journey that slowly gives a sense of direction to a girl who has always felt somewhat lost. The journey began with a book and leads her to a chance (not chance) meeting with her new favourite author in a coffee shop.