Ruth Elwin Harris

After growing up near London in the shadow of her more talented sister, portrait artist Frances Purcell finds a kindred spirit in their guardian's son, and self-worth as a nurse in France during World War I.

Reclusive illustrator and gardener Gwen Purcell's devotion to her nephew and new-found love of orchids draw her from her family's country home to London's gardens and shops and, as Hitler is gaining power, to the German Alps.

Raised by three older sisters, all artists, and educated by their guardian, a rector, lonely Sarah Purcell looks forward to 1920 when she will be old enough to attend Oxford and become a writer.

Gwen, de derde dochter uit het ouderloze gezin Purcell, legt zich in de jaren dertig toe op het kweken van orchideeën.

Tomboy Billie reluctantly takes ballet lessons and grows not only to love them, but to appreciate being a girl.

Successful landscape artist Frances Purcell, burdened with responsibility for her three younger sisters and their English country home since she was seventeen, fears her art will suffer if she marries the man she has always loved.