Why had she never lived by the sea before? Why had she always looked out on housing estates and not the little white hulls of trawlers bobbing off in the distance? It's gloriously sunny in Cornwall as the school year starts at the little boarding school by the sea.

Maggie, the newest teacher at Downey House, is determined to make her mark - but will it be at the expense of her relationship with safe, dependable Stan? Simone has won a scholarship and wants to make her parents proud. Forced to share a room with the glossy, pretty, clever girls of Downey House, she needs to find a friend, fast. Fliss is furious at being sent away from her home.

As Simone tries desperately to fit in, Fliss tries desperately to get out. Over the course of one year, friendships will bloom and lives will be changed forever.