It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind.
Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Her sister Cressida, a war widow blindly searching for love in her affairs with other women's husbands. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's ex-lover, who left her when Julius died and is still plagued by guilt. And Dan, an outsider.
During a disastrous - and revelatory - weekend in Sussex, the influence of the deceased Julius slowly emerges . . .
'A novel that commands both respect and applause' Sunday Times
'A compelling storyteller, shrewd and accurate in human observation, with a fine ear for dialogue and an evident pleasure in the English language' Guardian