1982. Single, and under threat of redundancy from her job in a local library, Emily feels as though her life is going nowhere - until the day when Carl comes into the library asking for books about tracing family history. He's baffled by a mystery involving his late grandfather. Fascinated as much by Carl himself as by the puzzle he wants to solve, Emily tries to help him find the answers. As their relationship develops, their quest for the truth takes them along a complicated paper trail which leads, eventually, to the battlefields of the Great War.