"A powerful story of family love, loyalties -- and doubts." The People's Friend. An Air Mail letter and wallet of photographs from Hong Kong bring unexpected - and shocking - news for Laura Robbins and her younger brother and sister at Spryglass, the tall old family house facing the seashore on the wild Lancashire coast. Since their mother died when Laura was fifteen, she has cared for James and little Becky and kept house at Spryglass while their father, Ken, was away at sea in the Merchant Navy. The children all miss him a great deal, but with Gran and Grandad Jessup living just a short distance away in the village and Laura's blossoming romance with David Hale, together with her interesting part-time job at Monks Inn in Sandford village, Laura is happy and content with her life exactly as it is. Ken's startling news from overseas, however, changes everything forever. As well as great happiness, the months ahead hold heartache, conflict and tragedy for the family at Spryglass, and for David Hale and Gran and Grandad Jessup, too. Dan and Nancy need the strength and comfort of their family more than ever, when the elderly couple face the gravest crisis of their whole lifetime together. David's dreams and ambitions are suddenly in ruins, and he is compelled to confront deceptions from his past when old, long-buried secrets come back to haunt him. And Laura . . Laura is lonely and unhappy. Riven by doubts and regret, she buries herself in work to numb the loss of all that meant most to her. Quite unexpectedly, she finds consolation in the undemanding company of Shaun Pembridge, a widely-travelled and rather mysterious young man who shows up in Sandford and takes a room at Monks Inn. It is a friendship, however, which is to threaten Laura's whole future . . .