George and Winifred Browne are a long-retired couple who have recently bought a run-down old country-house, one rumoured to have a dark past of aristocratic abuse and murder, of having been converted into an insane asylum, with the large grounds containing anonymous graves of the ex-patients. What is certain is the more mundane reality that the builders haven't finished, and several parts of the old house are potential death-traps.

The purchase is ostensibly an investment, more likely to accommodate their children, grand-children and great-grand-children on special occasions such as Christmas. George Browne has always been a controlling parent, and he has no intention of old-age or his children's independence getting in the way of his wishes. Now Christmas is only a few days away, and everyone has been invited. Old excuses such as lack of space are no longer valid, so some are busy preparing new excuses. Others welcome the opportunity for a get-together, not always for benevolent or altruistic reasons.

First to arrive are Gail, daughter of the Browne's daughter Jane and their son-in-law Jack Green. She is accompanied by her old school-friend Valerie, who she has only recently caught up with after some years. Gail is recovering from discovering that her latest boyfriend had been married all along. Valerie is recovering from a hangover, which she intends to cure while preparing another, preferably with male company.

Then comes Maria, daughter of the Browne's eldest son Adam and his wife Susan. With her is her new boyfriend Tom. He is somewhat confused as to why he is there, but it soon becomes apparent that he is the token boyfriend to supply moral comfort as Maria goes about the job of settling an old score with Valerie. To add to his confusion he discovers that Maria's real name is Hope, and that is what her family call her. Valerie declares Tom to be quite dishy, and decides she is going to have him. Gail warns her against it, even though it is obvious she agrees with the sentiment.

They are followed by the arrival of Peter, Maria-Hope's brother, with his partner Rebeccah and their baby boy, George. Peter takes an instant dislike to his sister's boyfriend. Tom isn't too enamoured of Peter either, as he quickly realises that the other man has a disjointed religious infatuation. Peter has no intention of marrying Rebeccah, as he believes that such a union should only be recognised in the eyes of God, and no man-made institution can emulate such a bond.

Next is grand-daughter Claire, baby sister to Gail. She was brought up as a blonde-haired princess, and as such had no defence against the charming Henry who got her pregnant while being married with two children. The experience has turned her bitter, and the struggle as a single mother to look after her baby daughter Sarah has left her gaunt. She is there to settle scores with her older sister and Valerie.

A man called Robert turns up with his Chinese wife Patience and their daughter, Lucy, five, and son David, who as Lucy continually points out, is "only a baby". It turns out that Robert is the Browne's son who had gone to America twenty-five years before and not come back until then. The main reason for leaving had been competition from his elder brother Adam and more accomplished sister Jane. Now he has returned to settle the ghosts of his childhood.

Finally it is the turn of his sister, Jane, mother to Gail and Claire. Divorced from the girls' father, she has been travelling Europe as the owner of a very successful company. She has only recently heard of Claire's predicament and has raced back to look after her princess-daughter. However she is damned if she is going to stay under the same roof as her parents, knowing that, for her mother, she had had always been a far-distant second to her brother Adam, number one son and hope of the family. As for her father, it would take about five seconds of his sarcasm before a holy row was ignited. However, looking after Claire won't be easy for Jane, as it is exactly her mother Claire blames for bringing her up as a baby doll, and for divorcing her father.

The rambling house is in a black-spot: no mobile phone signal, no internet, just one landline and a television to keep them occupied. That and the board games they used to play as children. One evening Winifred Browne suggests they should each tell a story. Those stories reveal their hopes, hatreds and fears in a modern world of uncertainty. As the days pass George Browne's 'bull elephant' character wavers and it becomes increasingly obvious that his days as the family patriarch are numbered.

The final story is Winifred's. Unlike the others, it is not a story of the modern era, of something to be hoped or looked forward to. It is the story of the past, and where they had come from.