Searching for meanings of life in a spiritually bleak world, this book is set in the aftermath of the Second World War, The Rosemary Tree contains several moments of mystical vision and dream. There are recurring references to Shakespeare's "Ophelia", Cervante's "Don Quixote" and Lewis Carroll's "Alice" as well as numbers of poets. The cast of characters include several elderly spinsters and widows and widowers in their fifties, sixties and older, a young school teacher, some of her pupils and their parents, an elderly coachman-cum-pig-keeper, two dogs, many birds and a vibrant spring.

It touches on themes of love, fear of death, betrayal, cowardice, war, selfishness, eccentricity, old age, cruelty, creativity, faith, prayer, forgiveness, poetry, interior decoration, children's books, and good food.