Two worlds collide when Caroline Connaught (Carrie) and Charlie Jones meet by a bench in a pub garden. Not much is known about Charlies background. Carrie is orphaned during World War II and raised by an aunt, going on to win a place at Oxford University. Having graduated during the post-war gloom with not too many job prospects, we join Carrie and Charlie as they embark on a life together on the East Coast, which gives them three children and an adopted shack facing the North Sea. Charlie converts the shack into something resembling a holiday home. Carrie home tutors all three of her children and works as a curator in the local Maritime Museum. Theo, her eldest son, is quite brilliant; Phoebe is our drama queen; and Jack is the youngest and doesnt really have the drive and ambition of his siblings. Their lives are a mishmash of fun and laughter coupled with hard work and dedication. They were never going to set the world on fire, but they would have a jolly good try.