A short novel about Harriet and David Lovatt, a young English couple who hope to build a large, happy family in a big house. Their first four children bring the contented life they imagined. The fifth, Ben, is different from the start: strong, difficult and unlike the rest of the family. As Harriet struggles to cope, relatives and friends pull away and the household changes. The book is a quiet, unsettling study of family ideals, motherhood, difference and what a community will accept.