On a train journey, Saki meets Mrs De Ropp, an oppressive aunt and guardian to an unruly brood. Inspired by the meeting, he imagines a tale of repressed children who find solace in their childish wonder, and are saved by their imagination.
Gemma Jones stars as a woman suffering from hyperacusis, which affects the muscles of the ears. As a result she has become highly sensitive to noise, a condition that is only exacerbated by living in a crowded boarding house.
Examines the relationship between Edith, a famous and successful novelist, and her writer husband, and how her own domestic situation is paralleled in her latest book about a woman enjoying the self-destruction of her husband.