Susan lives with her mum and dad, her two younger brothers and her dog Rover in a remote village in the flat fen county of Lincolnshire. The year is 1956 and life is still hard after the Second World War. But the summer holidays are just starting, and Susan is looking forward to spending long, carefree days with her friends. Then she hears some news that changes her whole life. Two cousins, whose mother has died, are coming to live with her family from the northern city of Leeds. Sharing a bedroom with them is bad enough, but the cousins, called Maria and Juliet, are soon bored with life in the countryside and start to cause trouble at home and in school. A new kitten helps to bring everyone together, but just as things are settling down, a mysterious letter arrives from Leeds. Then a stranger brings some early Christmas presents and Susan wonders what is going to happen next. Will they all be spending Christmas together or not?