1899: Ursula Brangwen, a schoolgirl of 16, lives with her family in the village of Cossethay in the Erewash Valley. Nearby lies Marsh Farm, the Brangwens's ancestral home and source of so many family memories. Haunted by these and the ghosts of her grandparents, Ursula's adolescent awareness grows as she is strongly drawn to the son of a family friend, Anton Skrebensky, an army cadet.

Summer 1900 to 1902: Anton Skrebensky has left for South Africa and the Boer War. Ursula, nearing the end of her schooldays, forms a close attachment with her teacher, Winifred Inger.

Spring to autumn, 1904. The Brangwens have moved from the country to Beldover, a mining town. Ursula is at college. The Boer War is over. Ursula gets a letter from Anton, and the final stage of her youthful journey begins.