The Boathouse, in scenic Cumbria, is inherited by Sophie Daynes, who cherishes it for its family associations. Her bore of a husband, in his forties and obsessed by his mistress, covets it for its cash value. Husband, wife and lover, all have their champions - while up in the woods a man lives in a caravan whom gossip maintains is a villain from Manchester forced to lie low. Gossip, greed and passion is exacerbated in high summer when the pleasure steamer churns up more than mud from the lake floor and a terrible package is revealed, changing the lives of all connected with the boathouse.