1997: Elizabeth's emigre parents approach retirement in straitened circumstances. Her mother decides to claim compensation from the Hungarian Government - hard enough for someone with a clear mind, but near impossible for an impulsive heavy drinker teetering towards dementia. TV journalist Elizabeth is pursuing a story of child abduction in the Hassidic community. In the wake of her father's sudden death and her mother's increasing obsession with wartime Hungary she struggles to keep her job and her relationship. Then she gets a phone call to say that her mother has been arrested in Budapest.