Oscar-nominated star of Educating Rita and Billy Elliot's darkly funny debut novelistic is a stand-up comedienne and national darling. Helena is the toast of Broadway. Maggie is an extremely beautiful but troubled actress - and she's cracking up fast, in fact she's 'out of her tree’. When Cissy takes Maggie to see Helena in New York, it leads to trouble straight away:

Maggie disappears into the freezing February night, no one knows where. As the search for their friend continues, alarming divisions occur in the lifelong friendships of Cissy, Helena and her stoic husband Luke. And then Cissy disappears too. So, two of the closest of friends are lost separately somewhere in snowbound Manhattan.