Ida, a sixty-year-old relationship therapist, has lost her mother, with whom she had a troubled relationship, to say the least. But things are better now. In death, her mother has taken her place in Ida’s chest, not in her heart, but somewhere behind her collarbone. There she lies, rocking gently, saying little, just watching what is happening, a low, calm voice in her ear.

Sigurd, Ida’s adult son, has broken with his mother for reasons he has chosen to keep to himself. Harald, her second husband, has also left her. But life goes on anyway, the clients continue to come, and with them the spirit of the times, which Ida feels increasingly alien to. And now Sigurd suddenly wants to get back in touch.