Rachel had escaped from her downtrodden life as the only child of poor Norfolk farmer, only to become the equally downtrodden wife of an Oxford academic who both despised and exploited her. Her children seemed to have no use for her and, when her father died and she had to go back to that miserable childhood home to clear up his effects, she started to wonder whether there was not some more fulfilling life somewhere else. Meanwhile, on the small Channel island of Florizel, seventeen-year old Phyllida is spending the summer in disgrace after being expelled from school. The tedium of a family holiday is, however, cheered up immensely by her growing friendship with Andras, a good-looking young fisherman. She soon discovers that Andras's mother hides a secret from the wartime occupation of the islands, memories of which still divide families in that tiny community. To solve the mystery Phyllida and Andras go on an idyllic pilgrimage to Tuscany, while Rachel, freed of her responsibilities and in love for the first time, finds a new life in the childhood home she thought she had left for good.