Eva, a young reserved girl, arrives at the Refuge, a woman's aid center run by Mrs Kane. There she is introduced to the other girls who greet her with mistrust and distance. The strict rules of the household are explained and Eva's new life begins in a pressing feeling of entrapment. The story is charged with fear, love, tension and hope. The Refuge is threatened by government cuts in funding that would leave the girls, homeless. Until they unite in a final act of protest.