To newly separated Anna, holidaying in Devon with her seven-year-old son, the exquisite windsurfer winging across the waves on the river near their cottage represents all that is young, strong and free.

In a nearby nursing home Anna's mother is dying of cancer, calmly accepting impending death with a dignity her daughter cannot begin to understand.

Faced with the dilemma of many conflicting emotions – guilt, grief, nostalgia and an increasing infatuation with the teenage windsurfer – Anna struggles to come to terms with her life…