Ruth, an Israeli writer who grew up amid gunfire and grenade, startles the genteel artistic world of Barbara and Heath Barnes. Barbara still lives and paints in her Australian hometown. Ruth's arrival coincides with Barbie's declaration of war on a life she now sees as subservient and controlled. Heath misunderstands Barbara and Ruth is drawn in to fill the growing rift. But following a crisis, Barbara's future lies in ruins. Peace is a hard-won trophy - and, like her admired early Australian women painters, she sets out on the road to freedom and the right to become herself.