Laura and Donal, Breffni and Cian, Andrew and Ruth: three contented middle-class couples living in suburban Limerick, gathering at each other's houses for intimate dinner parties, bound together by shared memories of childhood adventures. Andrew, Laura's handsome brother, has just returned from Crete with his new bride in tow, the surprisingly timid Ruth, who is finding it hard to fit in with Andrew's overbearing mother, Cecily. And, to her increasing concern, Andrew doesn't seem to have his mind entirely on her...Laura is desperate to know why she and Donal can't have a family, and why Donal seems so disinterested - hostile, in fact. And the beautiful, glamorous Breffni, with her lovely husband and golden child, Polly, well, she has the greatest surprise in store.