'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' is the memorable first line of this enchanting coming-of-age story, told in the form of Cassandra Mortmain's journal. Cassandra wittily describes life growing up in a crumbling castle, with her father who suffers from crippling writer's block, her glamorous but ineffectual step-mother and her vain but beloved sister Rose.

When two visiting Americans arrive, all of their lives are turned upside down, and Cassandra experiences her first love.