Vicky lives with her mother Joanne and father Jimmie. When Vicky's aunt Julia arrives after being released from prison, her presence brings back the past in a violent, magical way.

8-year-old Vicky possesses a special power: a hyperacute sense of smell. She spends her days exploring this gift, and lives happily with her mother Joanne, a swimming teacher whom she adores exclusively - to the despair of her firefighter father. When her mysterious aunt Julia suddenly reappears in their lives, secrets from their past resurface both violently and magically.