On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice Martin Boyne, a bachelor in his fort
ies, befriends a band of ebullient, precocious children. The seven Wheater stepb
rothers and sisters, grown weary of being shuttled between mother and father 'li
ke bundles', are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. They ar
e kept together as a 'family' by the eldest, Judith, who takes on the role of pr
otector.
