On a rainy night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) has a meeting with Henry Miles (Stephen Rea), husband of his ex-mistress Sarah (Julianne Moore), who abruptly ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled as he succumbs to his own jealously and arranges to have her followed. As the investigation progresses, Bendrix relives his passionate memories of their affair during The Blitz in London.
He discovers her diary and reads her account of the affair. It is as different from his as night is from day. He re-enters her life and confronts once more the consuming love they had for each other and the reason for its annihilation.
