 1987, love in time of war. A bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; she s suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what has happened to them and to help her face her past. Once home, Carla s nightmarish memories take over, and Carla and George are thrown into the thick of the US war against the Sandinistas. A mystery develops over where Carla s boyfriend is, and the key to his whereabouts may be Carla s friend Bradley, a bitter American aid worker. She finds her family, the Contras attack, and she and the Scot face their choices.