In the crumbling English castle she calls home, seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain begins a journal with the famous line 'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.' Through her witty and observant eyes, we witness her eccentric, impoverished family's life transform when two wealthy American brothers inherit the estate and move in next door. The novel is a brilliant coming-of-age story that captures the turbulence of first love, the complexities of family loyalty, and the bittersweet transition from girlhood to womanhood, all filtered through Cassandra's uniquely honest and literary voice.