It's September, 1938, and war is coming. Seventeen-year-old Emily Flannigan faces separation from everyone and everything she knows and loves when she travels alone across the Atlantic to the safe haven of America. Her adventure begins with a lost suitcase? and meeting Howard Mortimer, the handsome young man who comes to her aid. Emily may be missing school, but her education continues apace as she becomes a reluctant pin-up girl, befriends shady women, and takes on the care of a friend's abandoned baby.

Howard Mortimer, a British Naval Reservist, finds he cannot stop thinking about his "suitcase girl" and wondering if she is safe. Through loss and adventure, her picture and letters keep him from succumbing to loneliness. A chance meeting in America during the war cements Emily's hold on his heart, but it isn't until peace is declared that they will meet again. How can Howard find a way to overcome the obstacles Emily seems to be putting in the path of their future?

A mysterious painting, a final bequest, and the story of Emily's own heritage will either bring her and Howard together or forever keep them apart.