At the end of the Eighteenth Century, Richard Randall, proud of his long-established Sussex family has written and privately printed a family history, which pleases him very much. As he only has daughters to succeed him, the Randall name will die out with him. In 1965 a family called Randall are trying to trace their ancestry and discover a copy of this volume. Is there a connection? Could the answer lie in the story of Caroline, Richard's strong-minded second daughter, a young woman in 1794 and whose life is followed to Christmas 1859...