1987, love in time of war. Bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly-sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; shes suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what has happened to them and help her face her past. Once home, Carlas nightmarish memories take over, and she and George are thrown into the thick of the U.S. war against the Sandinistas. A mystery develops over where Carlas boyfriend is, and the key to his whereabouts may be her friend Bradley, a bitter American aid worker. She finds her family, the Contras attack, and she and the Scot face their choices.