Following the death of her husband, Barbara Lane travels from England to Thailand to settle his affairs - and learns that he had a male lover. In Tokyo, her daughter Sylvia has an affair with Toshi, a younger bank clerk. Back in London, Barbara becomes fascinated by Yuchi, a bisexual painter from Japan. And in Chiang Mai, her son Matthew discovers a girlish prostitute who is not what she seems. From then on, entangled relationships involve family and friends in a comedy of manners from Tokyo to London, Chiang Mai to Hove.