The story starts in London, where two friends Kitty Baillie and Isobel Logan live in Isobel's hotel room. Kitty has been mourning her husband's death for some time, and both of them start to feel the need for a change in order to move on with their lives. Kitty wants to stay in London and rents a place, while Isobel goes to Scotland where she falls in love with an old historic house in the Scottish borders.

Anna Buchan (1877-1948) was a Scottish novelist who wrote under the pen name O. Douglas. She was the younger sister of John Buchan, the renowned statesman and author. Most of her novels were written and set between the wars and portrayed small town or village life in southern Scotland, reflecting her own life.