Love, marriage and divorce are universal themes that unite and divide families in the urban forest. In Melbourne, early during the second half of the 20th Century, the Shorman and Carlister families are both facing the pressures of societal change: older family males still believe in the patriarchal past while young adult offspring are finding new freedoms at university and beyond. As the details emerge of relationships strong and weak, tragedy strikes and relationships are rearranged. At least the young adults can go forward unbound by the societal constraints of the past.