Lucy and Philip are a progressive young couple in a period of extraordinary change - the late 1960s. Considerations of marriage and the purchase of their first house put them in the way of tradition, but they both feel the huge gap between themselves and the older generation. However, though they have the strong egos of the young, they are not foolish enough to think that they have nothing to learn.

Having finally identified what will be their romantic new home in a remote village in Norfolk, they head to Philip's parents' suburban house to celebrate his mother's birthday. Here, all of Philip's buried antagonism towards his conservative and conventional family explodes in a series of sniping arguments which cast hurt in all directions and uncover old wounds. His relationship with his unfulfilled, fussing mother is particularly strained. Lucy can only look on as, aware as she already is of his frustrations, she sees Philip in a new light. Her questioning mood is bolstered by an unexpected visit to Mrs Fletcher, their elderly next door neighbour whose husband, also named Philip, died long ago in mysterious circumstances. Lucy feels increasingly trapped by the family's nervous irritability, the atmosphere of turbulence and her own uncertainties about the future.

With concentrated precision and revealing poetic touches, Rosalind Brackenbury's first novel explores the clash of modes between those whose lives seem dedicated to a new truth and those whose epoch seems to be slipping away. In scenes of delicate sensory detail, she brilliantly pinpoints time taking its inevitable toll filament by filament, all the while exposing the one constant which can be relied upon - human frailty.

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