In 1991, the writer Alexander Waugh was deeply affected when his father, the controversial journalist Auberon, passed away. Father-son relationships in this great literary dynasty have always been complex - Auberon found it difficult to impress his father, the great novelist Evelyn, who in turn had been both humiliated and rejected by his father throughout his childhood. In this revealing and poignant film, Alexander meets friends and relatives of the Waugh family and reflects on the intense love, paternal bullying, and emotional diffidence which has affected the upbringing of five generations of the Waugh male line.