In 1937 England, twenty years after losing contact with her only living relatives, Moira Edwards sends a Letter from Brackham Wood, where she has been serving as a maid of all work, to the last known American address of her uncle and aunt and their daughter--thus putting in motion a series of letters spanning all of World War II. In these letters, Moira and her cousin, Margaret Walker, a doctor living in Spokane, Washington, reflect on their lives, the world's condition, changing times for women, and a case of espionage in which she, Moira, finds herself at the center.