Clod Iremonger is not supposed to, but he hears a brass door handle saying, "Alice Higgs". And his birth object, a universal bath plug, constantly calls out, "James Henry Hayward". The rest of the Iremonger family would rather the objects collected from the rubbish heaps of London stayed quiet. But something is happening. The objects, piled up inside and around Heap House over generations, are not staying in their place. With the arrival of Lucy Pennant, everything shifts and Clod will have to decide where he belongs.