Modernisation has arrived at Camusfearna, Gavin Maxwell's cottage on the West Highland coast. Along with the new otters, Teko, Mossy, Monday and others, comes the installation of electricity, extensions to the buildings and additions to the transport facilities, and the acquisition of the motor vessel Polar Star. The story of the succeeding years, though full of delight, is not without episodes of danger and even disaster. The wreck of the Polar Star in which the author all but lost his life, an explosion in the kitchen at Camusfearna, an invasion of rats, are transmuted from calamity to breathtaking suspense and high comedy.