One hot June afternoon in Durban, South Africa, a child is born. Doctors and nurses marvel because the birth is one of the rarest in the world. The child, Gillian August, is born still shrouded in her amniotic sac. She is a caul baby, and in 1970s South Africa, this heralds greatness.

Or it might have, had August's caul not been stolen within hours of her birth.

A belief in predetermined outcomes looms large in Thorp's family, culture, and her perception of the world. After all, a lifetime of loss seems to confirm the misery promised by the theft of her caul.

Gillian is a Coloured girl born under Apartheid who overcomes unimaginable tragedy, loss, and abuse to find her voice and to help others find theirs.

This is her story, one where thieves give more than they take, and where something great comes from places where nothing at all is expected.