Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet follows a rumour of Scandinavian ancestry on her late mother Sally's side of the family and is delighted when it turns out to be true and that she has Swedish heritage. However, her joy turns to tears and anger when she uncovers the extreme hardships her ancestors endured, from famine to flogging and imprisonment. Switching to her father's side of the family, Kate finds a drummer boy in the Grenadier Guards and, this time, an unusually positive encounter with prison.