Before the Second World War breaks out, Chevrons, the idyllic country house where the Garlands have lived for centuries, has already been touched by events in Europe. To the horror of her family, Katherine, the eldest daughter, has run off to join the Nazis. On the outbreak of war, Caro, her younger sister, her friend Robyn, and the maids, Trixie and Betty, leave Chevrons to help the war effort, and the old house is left to be managed by men too old to fight. All the girls meet and fall in love with a succession of young men, most of whom, it seems to them, are fated to die young. In such an atmosphere of fleeting pleasure, and fatal acceptance, it would seem that the young will never find lasting happiness.