Effie Lamont rejoices that her eldest son and daughter have made good marriages and had for some time thought her identical twin sons needed to become less reliant on each other.
To this end she agrees with her eldest son, Lachlan (Laird of Lamont Estate) that they should take part in a government exchange programme to work abroad for twelve months. So Rory is packed off to a Hill Sheep Farm in New Zealand and Glen to an Australian Cattle Station.
The story follows the lives of the twins as they cope without the close support of each other or their family during the twelve months they are apart.