Alice has a scrupulously organized, comfortable life in West London with Noel. but when Alice's bohemian mother Jocelyn becomes ill, Alice goes t look after her, taking her daughter and stepson with her. Noel thinks that Jocelyn should be moved to a sensible, sheltered accommodation but the children love the freedom and beauty that they discover in Cornwall, and Alice begins to wonder if the way of life she has chosen is the right one