'It was more than possession, more than union, more than love. It was absolute confidence. It was certainty, and a promise of certainty always'. Adam and Rachel, childhood sweethearts, are getting married at last. Rachel is everything Adam has ever imagined in a wife and her parents adore him. A life of easy contentment awaits, at the heart of the community. But then Rachel's reckless American cousin returns to the family fold. Ellie represents everything that Adam has striven to avoid - and everything that is missing from his world. As the long-awaited wedding approaches, Adam is torn between duty and temptation, security and freedom, and must make a choice that will break either one heart, or many.