Four of them are classmates in the local school (Maura, Eddie, Nessa and Leo) who were about 10 years old when the bishop visited the town.

The graduates of the stone schoolhouse on the hill engraved their initials on a large copper beech tree.

She loves teaching, yet has a hard time making close friends until a new curate arrives in the parish.

Four years later it turns into love between Eddie and Christine, increasing communication with telephone calls and finally a visit.

Young Declan is raised quite differently from his sisters, with so many people stepping in to fill the hole left by his mother’s death.

Nora and Jim Kelly, the school mistress and master, are dedicated to teaching the children despite their own infertility.

Nora's twin sister Helen returns home to visit with her four-year-old daughter, Maria.

Helen is killed in a freak road accident, leaving Nora and Jim to care for the child and hope that she can remain with them, though her father is alive in America.

Nessa Ryan thinks her mother is bossy, running the local hotel, and her father is too timid.

Social barriers that divided families for generations begin to fall, as for example a boy from the lowest socioeconomic class ends up marrying the daughter of an army major.

[1] Numerous female characters are also depicted as "strong, independent women of the 1950s [who have] no time for silly romances".