The time is 1989, year of tremendous upheaval throughout the Communist world—and a time of uncanny calm for Poppy Tasker, a young “gran” looking after her grandson at a London play center. Divorced, dreaming of fantasy lovers, and feeling like an outsider, she wonders what—if anything—the future holds. Then, silhouetted under the trees of the playground a man appears...staring intensely at her own adored Toby. Suddenly, Poppy’s life becomes perhaps a little too interesting: a corpse is found grotesquely garnished near the playground, strangers watch her apartment and make ominous phone calls, police inspectors question her, and the political turmoil of her time reaches into her life in the form of a very intriguing—and possibly dangerous—new man.