Summary:

The main protagonist goes into a recounting of her childhood in the war. This is a recount of a woman's life in the one of the world wars. Having a neglectful mother and a dead father her only constant in her life is her brother. When he dies her world spins out of control as it is doing now. History is repeating itself.
She speaks to her son, named Jamie through a letter, explaining both her actions in the present and past. The letter is for both the sake of her son and herself, for she needs her son to understand her actions and not to hate her and she needs the closure of writing the letter.