With university behind her, Emily finds herself on the threshold of life. Introduced to a Scottish engineer, the exoticism of his life in Paris beckons, and she leaves her family home in twenties Melbourne to become his wife. But far from providing answers, marriage awakens in her an ardent desire to find a reason for living, a desire which leads her to flirt with risk, passion and unorthodox friendships and carries her to Tunisia, on a journey of self questioning and intellectual reawakening, towards a crossroads in her life.