When Ada's clubfoot is surgically fixed at last, she knows for certain that she's not what her mother said she was—damaged, deranged, crippled mentally as well as physically. But what is she? World War II continues, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, are living with their loving legal guardian, Susan, in a borrowed "cottage" on the estate of the formidable Lady Thorton. Life in the crowded cottage is tense enough, and then, quite suddenly, Ruth, a Jewish girl from Germany, moves in. A German? The occupants of the house are horrified. But other impacts of war are far more intrusive and frightening. As death creeps closer to their door, life and morality during wartime grow more complex. Who is Ada now? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?