The Fosters, Winnie's family, are an example of the quintessential Victorian family. They are strict, educated, wealthy, and sophisticated. They have rules for their daughter Winnie about how her life should be lived. She is frustrated by these stifling rules and feels trapped in this proper, stuffy Victorian lifestyle. The Tucks live very differently than the Fosters. The Tucks are free spirits, living in the woods rather non-traditionally. They are messy, living in a disorderly cottage, dressing more casual and living comfortably in a more bohemian and free lifestyle. Winnie has never seen this sort of lifestyle before, and it shocks but also thrills her. While uneducated, the Tucks are, however, very wise, and they live close to nature. They understand, due to the fact that they are immortal, the importance of the circle of life and the natural order of things. Winnie learns many important lessons from them, and finds a balance between the structure of her family's life and the life that the Tucks leave, where even in their permanence of life, everything is impermanent and they live in constant fear of being discovered.