Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale) is the recently orphaned London society girl who ignores the advice of her mentor Mrs Smiley (Joanna Lumley) and moves to the country to live with relatives on their farm. An aspiring novelist, Flora soon realises that there is plenty of material for her stories on the decrepit farm - and she decides that she will bring her sense of order to the chaotic and humorous characters that she meets.