By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strainedby Theaœs passionate embrace of womenœs suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Theaœs brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Theaœs gift to Kezia is a book on household managementa veiled criticism of the brideœs prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Keziaœs responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.