It tells the sensitive and intimate story of how a brother and sister’s lives change after their imperious mother dies.

This is ostensibly to avoid some inheritance tax, but as in fact the savings are negligible, it appears to be rather a manifestation of Dorothy's grudging, manipulative character.

In the course of the book he is revealed to be homosexual, and Helen helps Edward through what seems to be a life crisis, thus reinforcing her own sense of self and strength.

This is in stark contrast to the life their sister Louise and her husband Tom lead in London, who every once in a while drop in on Helen and Edward.

Louise and Tom's problems are those typical of people that live in big cities: lack of time and psycho-somatic illnesses.

Ron Paget, a wealthy builder who owns the yard next to the Britches, has spent years prodding first Dorothy, and then Helen and Edward to sell him their land.

Ron Paget's materialistic outlook and lack of regard for conservation reflects trends in modern British life which the Glovers resist.

He teaches at a girls' school and devotes his spare time to looking after the ecology of the Britches, a plot of land he and Helen have inherited from their mother.

Ron Paget, the owner of a builder's yard across from the Britches, has an expansive and materialistic temperament that contrasts with the modest Glovers.