Miranda Meadowe decides a solitary existence in crumbling country house is not for her. Reviving a university dream, she invites five of her oldest friends to join her to live, and all have reasons to accept.

To begin with, omens are good. They laugh, dance, drink and behave badly, as they cling to the heritage they thought was theirs forever: power, health, friendship. They are the baby boomers; the world is theirs to change. But as old attractions resurface alongside new tensions, they discover that the clock can't be put back.

When the outside world descends on their idyllic retreat, and the isolation of the group is breached, the future that beckons is very different from the one they imagined.