It is nearly Christmas and a large family arrives at Carnival's Hide, a house said to be haunted by Edward Carnival's son Like all the Hamilton children, Harry (Ariadne), is fascinated by the ghostly Teddy and writes him into the wildly romantic novel in which she is exploring her own emerging sexuality The three somewhat sinister Carnival brothers have come out from England to see their old home and as the New Zealand festivities proceed, cracks appear in the family