If you receive a letter telling you your father has died, what do you do? Anna's father left when she was very young and Anna, now 16, is living with her ambitious, unemotional, scientist mother. Then she receives a letter from her father's current girlfriend, Edie, with some shocking news: her father has died. Edie would like to meet Anna because she has something for her from her father. Anna's friends think Edie is not to be trusted and that she should steer clear. But Anna is drawn to Edie: her warmth, her character, her ability to rustle up delicious meals, all of which it seems her own mother is seemingly incapable of.