After their children grow up and leave home, Richard and Jeanette Hope rent out the self-contained flat at the top of their house to various young people, supporting and guiding them until they are ready to make their own way in life. It is to this caring environment that 21 year-old Lucy Priestman finds herself. Lucy's own mother is both irresponsible and indifferent to her, so Lucy quickly settles down with Mr and Mrs Hope and enjoys being part of a loving family. But though the Hopes are kindly, they are also very strict, and when Lucy breaks their rules, they treat her the same as they did their own children - they spank her. Thus Lucy learns the value of loving discipline, firmly applied to her bare bottom. As time passes, Lucy begins to refer to the Hopes as Mum and Dad; she has an extra special bond with her new, caring mum, even though she is often over the maternal lap getting whacked with a hairbrush, or feeling the sting of Dad's slipper. The Hopes recognise Lucy hasn't had a proper childhood so they provide one for her, treating her younger than her actual years and building a framework within which she can be nurtured and start to grow up properly. As for Lucy, she is very happy to feel and act fourteen again. Her life is transformed... with new friends, plenty of corporal correction, and a new set of values. Her now stable and caring environment, tempered by discipline and old-fashioned family values, is exactly what she needs.