Rose Aubrey is one of a family of four children. Their father, Piers, is
the disgraced son of an Irish landowning family, a violent, noble, and
quite unscrupulous leader of popular causes. His Scottish wife, Clare,
is an artist, a tower of strength, fanatically devoted to a musical
future for her daughters. This is the story of their life in south
London, a life threatened by Piers's streak of tragic folly which keeps
them on the verge of financial ruin and social disgrace....