The Mollos had come to England to start a new life, buying a small farm in the heart of Devon, only to have their dream cruelly snatched from them. Now their teenage daughter has risked the family farm in a desperate attempt to preserve her parents' legacy, betting everything on a new type of crop.

But the country is in the midst of a financial crisis, and with more trouble looming, a Machiavellian mandarin has cooked up an outlandish scheme to manage what might otherwise be a difficult situation, threatening the young girl's plans.

Shortfall is a fictional tale inspired in some small part by real events now thought lost to time.