As a full-time mother, wife, and editor, Isabel barely has any time for herself. When her husband, Jamie, suggests acquiring extra help, she reluctantly agrees and soon hires a new au pair, and an intelligent assistant editor. Both women, though, have romantic entanglements that threaten to interfere with their work, and Isabel must decide how best to navigate this tricky domestic situation.

Meanwhile, Isabel makes the acquaintance of the single mother of one Charlie’s friends, who is raising her son without the help of his father, a well-known Edinburgh organist. When Isabel sees her in the company of an unscrupulous man, she must once again call on her kindness and keen intelligence to determine the right course of action, at home, at work, and in the schoolyard.