The play is set in a seaside town and tells the story of Mrs Clandon and
her three children, Dolly, Phillip and Gloria, who have just returned to
England after an eighteen-year stay in Madeira. The children have no
idea who their father is and, through a comedy of errors, end up
inviting him to a family lunch. At the same time a dentist named
Valentine has fallen in love with the eldest daughter, Gloria. However,
Gloria considers herself a modern woman and claims to have no interest
in love or marriage.