Hattie has a difficult partner, an absentee mother,and a cynical grandmother, Frances. She tries to do the right thing, but she now has a baby, Kitty, and money has to be earned. Enter Agnieszka, from Poland, a domestic paragon. But is she friend or foe? And even if she is foe, can they afford to let her go? Meanwhile Frances traces the family and social history, and all those au pairs, child minders and cleaners who've had a part in making Hattie what she is - and now Agnieszka, who has come to claim a life for herself at Hattie's expense. Will Hattie go to the wall? Or will rescue come?