This story is set in Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union, in 1962, and Lincoln, England, in the present day. It tells the story of Vera, an up-and-coming ballerina who finds herself drawn into a life she never wanted, and Fay, a teenage Pastor's Kid, who is trying to make a life for herself as far away from her parents' faith as possible. These two girls' lives are connected by a small tin box. But what did it hold, and how did it end up at the back of a musty cupboard?