Odile Rochefort Annesley has been in self-imposed exile in France for forty years, following a familiy tragedy. When, with her eightieth birthday approaching, she contacts her scattered grandchildren to give them details of her will, her five quite different grand-daughters see it as an excellent reason for a family get-together. Solidly-married Clemency; ambitious London property dealer, Madeleine; Parisian dress-designer, Elodie; cautious Isabelle from Quebec who has inherited the family brains; and poor, deprived misfit, Cherie, with the oddly-developing child, meet and start to get acquainted as they plan a big surprise party. Each has grown up in a different world but all share the same characteristics as families do. The nose, the determination, the loyalty, the wit. Circumstances alone have given them different starts in life. Then there's Cousin Harry, the golden architect with secret problems and a make-believe marriage which may not be all it's cracked up to be.