The late 1960s. For Persephone 'Percy' Plover - the daughter of distant and neglectful parents - the innocent days of childhood are long past. Newly single, unemployed and living with her aunt, Percy finds herself drifting. When her aunt, a garden designer, is offered a few weeks of work in the West Country, dealing with the terraces and glasshouses of a once-beautiful manor house in Melton, Percy decides to join her. And Jack, the new owner of Melton House, recently divorced and desperate to avoid loneliness, may find a few things to keep her busy. Elizabeth Jane Howard's renowned wit and perception shines through in this touching account of tangled lives and loves.