For Vita Landseer and her daughter, Susanne, life in Little Hammer is rather quieter than their former elegant existence at Grange Hill. A life that ended abruptly when Vita's husband ran off leaving the estate facing bankruptcy. Squaring their shoulders against humiliation and social disaster, Vita opens a successful second-hand couture agency while Susanne, a gifted horsewoman, longs to find a more deserving partner than the opportunistic Nigel Danvers -- a man who dropped her as soon as her inheritance disappeared.
The chance of a luxurious cruise down the Nile seems the perfect antidote for them both. And as Egypt's magnificent history glides past, the pressures of England slip further away. Then, the aristocratic Omar Saheed joins their party, and Susanne finds herself wondering if she will ever go home...