It is 1946 and the Temperleys and the Chancellors are old neighbours, living on the south coast of England. Marius Temperley is reserved, principled and cool-headed. He has recently left the army and is struggling to fit into civilian life. His quick-tempered and passionate sister, Julia, has been running the family business since her father's death.
When gawky seventeen-year-old Topaz Brooke visits her cousins, Jack and Will Chancellor, for the first time since the outbreak of the war, she finds that a great deal has changed in her absence. Both brothers - the handsome but emotionally distant Jack, and the younger, naïve and impetuous Will - are in love with Julia Temperley. And when Jack's wealthy, imperious cousin Carrie forces him to choose between Julia and the inheritance of Carrie's beautiful farm, Sixfields, Topaz fears that the family will be torn apart.
As the years go by, family secrets are revealed, and the Temperleys and the Chancellots learn that passion can be both destructive and redemptive.
