The Keep—that beautiful, ancient family home where the Chadwick family has lived for generations—is still a haven from the heartbreaks and storms of life. Jolyon Chadwick, a famous television presenter, takes his new girlfriend, Henrietta, home to meet his extended family—and also to meet Marie, the mother who deserted him and his father many years ago, and who has now reappeared and seems to want forgiveness.

Jolyon, however, is not in the mood for forgiveness—although his father, Hal, now married to his cousin and childhood sweetheart, feels a lingering guilt about Marie and wants them all to be friends. And Henrietta, still vulnerable from the breakup of her own parents' marriage, is not sure whether she can move on.