Kaleidoscope plot
"You might find out, or reunite."
After their father's murder and their mother's suicide, Hilary and her sisters have been separated for thirty years. The two youngest girls are taken into loving families, but Hilary has a horrible childhood. She ends up in children's homes, is abused and suffers enormous poverty. However, through her iron will and by erasing all traces of her past, she realizes her dreams. A dying family friend of the past hires private detective John Chapman to track down the three women and bring them together. Hilary struggles desperately against the painful memories she has, but Chapman manages to push through her insensitive exterior. He discovers a tormented, gentle woman who only through his love dares to confront the past again.