Samuel McAllister is an English teacher obsessed with reminiscing about his childhood who sometimes lives in an imaginary, parallel world to relieve the boredom of his everyday life. The older he grows, he becomes concerned he’s acquiring some of his father’s questionable qualities and he starts to wish time away until his intended early retirement. He has two older siblings, Emma, and Duncan, his bachelor brother. Samuel McAllister becomes exasperated and bewildered with his brother’s strange behaviour and his obsession with the old family home following the death of their parents. Will Duncan succeed with his determination to retain the old family home and will he fight off the unwanted amorous advances of the twice widowed near neighbour Beatrice Bassett? The story contains moments of tragedy and the overcoming of emotional difficulties, but is predominantly entertaining and humorous. It’s mainly a work of fiction based around some real family events.