Like the rest of the nation, the Burracombe villagers are shocked when King George VI dies suddenly in 1952. But in the midst of their grief, the arrival of a stranger in the village on the very same day goes almost unnoticed, as the villagers have their own concerns…

Farmer’s daughter Val needs to find a home before she can marry her sweetheart; Hilary is struggling to come to terms with her new responsibilities; and Stella is still getting to know the sister she thought she had lost during the war. While the children at the village school are as lively and inquisitive as ever, there are still conflicts and feuds amongst the long-standing residents of Burracombe.

Then a search for a family draws the whole village together and more than one person is led to question their own ideas about families and what they mean.