This is the story of Mary Barnett and Peter Gorringe two highly intelligent, but rather unsophisticated 50 year olds who for different reason have to restart their lives. She decides to leave her school, Walton Hall, where she has been a highly successful and well known Head Mistress, because she feels herself becoming institutionalised. Gorringe a distinguished RAF pilot, leaves the RAF with the rank of Air Vice Marshall knowing he can rise no further. The book traces Mary's life from a child in Richmond, to years in South America with her father, her return to England and her friendship with three woman. at school, at Oxford and for the next twenty years: Diana Fortescue a writer, Tiki Randall, a scientist and Marjorie Lowther, an art historian and notable woman athlete. Mary is very upset by the death of Diana and although offered work in No 10 Downing Street and other senior positions in education decides to write the autobiography of her friend who had been an international literary figure. Reading Diana's diaries she is distressed to find that her friend missed her support and depended on two men Peter Gorringe and John Favel, her publisher in the last years of her life.
The two men assist Mary in handling Diana's estate and feel responsibility for Mary as part of their Diana enterprise. Gorringe who has three different jobs, a charity, an director of an electronic firm and teacher at an College in North Carolina keep in touch with Mary by e-mail, He finds her lonely as she works long hours on the book and he takes her out from time to time, to international rugby at Twickenham and flying in an ancient Tiger Moth. She takes him around the Lake District to the places he has roared over in his very noisy jets. She visits him in his college in America and they visit Charleston. A theme that Diana wanted to take up in a new book was the enormous illegal trade in drugs. Two of her friends had died from drug overdoses. Mary Barnett takes up Diana's interest in drugs and the law. She forms a powerful group of able and eager people that she and Peter lead. They start a five year campaign with research, specially written books and television programmes. The story is in the period after the ending of the Cold War up to the disaster of the Iraq War in the time of Bush and Blair.
It is against a background of television and the press, the empty cult of celebrity and the rare recognition of real quality. stardom. Besides the principals there is rich collection of characters, A Minister of the Crown, staff from No 10, two bishops , a Law Lord, Peter's sister Jude, his son and daughter and grandchildren. Young and old Doctor Sawbones, a vulnerable lawyer, Mrs T the housekeeper, Rosie the Nanny who gets a degree and makes a fortune in the City, headmistresses galore, teachers good and bad and children all blessed. An Air Commodore, called Jumbo, tennis and squash players. and many who have no names like the slight girl from Kew who rides a very large motorcycle and runs the gardens at Trawley.
