In 1950 16 year old Nora Miller discovers she is pregnant, and gives birth to a boy called Thomas, in desperation, she plans to leave Ireland, with her boyfriend Simon, but her parents foil the plan and send her to a Magdalene asylum. Nora spends her days working each day in the laundry room, under severely poor conditions, and is humiliated and tortured by the nuns, but finds strength through the power of friendship with the girls in the dormitory. Thomas grows up in a strict orphanage and at the age of thirteen, he is adopted by the Collins family and lives with them in their magnificent mansion, in London. Then one day he discovers the identity of his Mother, and so begins an epic adventure to Find Nora.