Emma Tupper, a young lawyer with a bright future, sets out on a journey after her mother's death: to Africa, the land to which her mother always wanted to travel. But her mother's dying gift has unexpected consequences. Emma falls ill during her trip and is just recovering when a massive earthquake hits, turning her one-month vacation into a six-month ordeal. When Emma returns home, she is shocked to find that her friends and colleagues believed she was dead, that her apartment has been rented to a stranger and that her life has gone on without her. Can Emma pick up where she left off? Should she? As Emma struggles to recreate her old life, everyone around her thinks she should change - her job, her relationships and even herself. But does she really want to sacrifice everything she's working so hard to regain?