Set in the latter part of the 1990s, recently married Anna, her work-orientated sister Emma, and Anna's lodgers - imaginative Moira and versatile Vicky - are variously concerned with work, love, and marriage. In their mid-thirties, they must all resolve questions in their lives if they want to settle down. Will Anna have a baby? Will Emma, Vicky, and Moira find lasting love? Will they stay in London, move to the country, or go abroad? Emma's mother, Janet, observes them and draws parallels between her own past and the present situation of her children and their friends.