Mysterious and inviting, Jessie and Margaret are drawn to their reclusive neighbour's house. It offers an escape from the dreary summer of 1977 and their fragile family life, into a world they can only dream about. When the house suddenly burns down at the same time as their mother moves out to live with her new boyfriend, and their father develops an unhealthy crush on a woman in their street, life seems bleak for the girls. Escaping the claustrophobia of family life isn't easy, until the story of an eccentric female explorer from the 1930s unfolds in a series of letters.