Sixteen-year-old Lisa moves to London, hoping to follow in her older sister Ruby's footsteps. Ruby has cropped hair, a drug habit, and not one but two unsuitable men. Enrolling on an acting course, Lisa decides that she too will enjoy living life to the full.
Yet Lisa finds herself burdened by responsibility. Whatever her own problems, those of her mother, her sister and even her small brother Max always seem greater and more urgent. Striking out, she tracks her own path through the city, dabbling with drugs and romance, and refusing to lose faith in her belief that something fanastic is about to happen to mark the beginning of the rest of her life...