Nearly fifty years have passed since Elizabeth last saw the colonial house in Nelson, New Zealand, where she once boarded as a young teacher in 1962. Where the Bellbird Sings takes Elizabeth back in time to her memories of the house and the peace that she felt when she heard the call of the bellbird. Now widowed and seventy years old, Elizabeth returns when she hears the house is for sale. As she is shown through the rooms, she recalls in detail what the house had been like when her great-aunts and great-uncle lived there. Elizabeth hears the bellbird sing and is comforted, as its song always represented hope and continuity. When she is told by the agent that the living room is locked because the owners are using it for storage, this link with the past makes her feel faint. As she sits outside on the verandah, she remembers why the mysterious door is locked. Where the Bellbird Sings is an intriguing family saga, a remembrance of lost love and times past, but is foremost an unforgettable story.