As the November darkness descends on Malmö, Ellen turns thirty-one. Now she is the same age as her mother was when she fell ill. When the past inevitably catches up with Ellen, something unexpected happens.

What at first seems to be a careless attempt at fraud turns out to be the inheritance from an unknown uncle, even though her father has no siblings. Suddenly, she finds herself the owner of a basement house in need of renovation in the sparklingly beautiful mountain world of Sälen. But why?

Ellen borrows her father's car and drives north. The question is, is it to find out more about the house or is it yet another way for her to escape? In Sälen, she meets a group of odd characters who make their way past her walls, into her heart. The mountains also hold the key to Ellen's past and a family history that has never been explained.