Richard Lanyon answers to no one save the aristocratic Sweetwater family who owns the land he farms. His bitter resentment is legend within the bounds of their tiny Exmoor community but as their tenant, Richard Lanyon must do their bidding. Driven to succeed, Richard is prepared to take what is not his, and to forfeit the happiness of his family to claim the entitlements he lusts for.

When two ambitious families occupy the same patch of English soil, rivalry is sure to take root and flourish. A glimmer of initiative swells into blind desire, and minor hurts, nursed with jealousy, fester into a malignant hatred. When a bitter feud is born the price for this wild and beautiful piece of ground will take more than three generations to settle.