A Black London girl named Hortense loses her adoptive mother and decides to find her biological mother.
At the same time, we are introduced to Cindy Rose — Hortense's birth mother whom she is searching for — as well as Roxanne, Cindy’s daughter and Hortense’s half-sister, who has a young suitor; Cindy’s brother and his wife, who live in an atmosphere of estrangement bordering on quiet resentment.
The arrival of a new family member will change many things in the household.