On Proudie Bay, an Australian seaside village, sits the Fishcastle, home to the Hardwicks. A 'man house', it is dominated by Marlin Hardwick, promiscuous and patriarchal, who has driven his wife to an early death, transformed his daughter Jennifer into a drudge and his son into a drunkard.
But life begins to change at the Fishcastle with the slow infiltration of various Jennifer's new hippie friend Miriam and her daughter Beccy; Marlin's sister Hester, now homeless after a storm; and Hester's new acquaintance Lucrezia, an Amazon in modern guise. As the balance of the sexes shifts, so drama and tragedy ensue and the character of one dysfunctional family is changed forever.
