Lydia Aspen, a seemingly shy girl from a wealthy but isolated background, is encouraged by her aunts, her new carers, to discover the delights of growing up.

They entrust her education to Mr Richardson, the young apprentice for Evensford's local newspaper, who is sent to their house to "get a story" about the recent death of Lydia's father.

Visiting the Aspen estate also allows Richardson the chance to escape from the great engulfing vacuum of Evensford, with its endless stretch of factory roofs and back alleys.

A 1952 book review by Kirkus Reviews called the book "a certain latter day-disenchantment for a return to a lost youth, and a first love for Lydia, whose capricious charms were to destroy as well as affect in a fickle, facile pursuit" and summarized: "A moment in time—and feeling, recaptured with a poignant detachment and regret, with however—none of the external drama of earlier novels.

It also featured Rachel Kempson, Beatrix Lehmann and Michael Aldridge, as Lydia's eccentric relations, plus David Ryall and Sam Kydd.