Nineteen-year-old John has been plucked from his small-time London life to be the famous Misty Moore's nanny while she hides out - post-pregnancy - in a crumbling mansion in Wychwood, in deepest Yorkshire. He is dazzled by his change of fortune, by Misty's impossible breasts and most of all by the heartbreaking Hepsie Vine, who is mysteriously bound to Misty. But there's more to his job than just glamour and decadence. For the village of Wychwood comes with the dank trace of secrets and Misty, of course, has plenty of her own ...