Leah Elisabeth Browne has died. The novel starts with the funeral where we are given the character of Leah, the maiden aunt, as seen by her relatives. Her house has been left in her will to one Frank Hawe, a person no one has ever heard of. Slowly, the story of her love affair with Frank is told, along with the extraordinary life of her brother and his beautiful young wife. It is nothing like the rest of the family could ever have imagined.