The storyline of The Setons is set during WWI. The main character of this novel is Elizabeth Seton, the level-headed, hard-working daughter of a Scottish priest. Reading about her worries about the loved ones, as the Great War breaks out, makes this book a delightful read.

Beatrice is a timid, private, and restless young woman from an upper middle class Glasgow family. Her mother's death leaves her an orphan with no close relatives. In months following her mother's death, Beatrice struggles to find a new place for herself. Comes Christmas, Beatrice doesn't feel welcomed at her half-brother's family she considers snobbish, so she chooses to spend holidays with a friendly country family. Having finally found a place she can feel comfortable and be herself, Beatrice builds her confidence and makes new friends.

Lady Bidsborough, formerly Jean Jardine of Priorsford, is now the mistress of Mintern Abbas, a grand home in England. She is also the mother of three children. When her husband Biddy feels a moral obligation to accompany a friend, who saved his life during the Great War, on a long trip, Jean decides to spend the winter in her beloved Priorsford. With a menagerie of children, pets, maids and a secretary, she returns to The Rigs, where she once lived in poverty, about 10 years ago, taking care of her three younger brothers.

The story starts in London, where two friends Kitty Baillie and Isobel Logan live in Isobel's hotel room. Kitty has been mourning her husband's death for some time, and both of them start to feel the need for a change in order to move on with their lives. Kitty wants to stay in London and rents a place, while Isobel goes to Scotland where she falls in love with an old historic house in the Scottish borders.