P. H. Newby's third novel tells the story of Mariner, a schoolmaster in Paris. Egotistical and unscrupulous, he abducts a young girl, imposing them both on the kindness of his old friend, Fred. Their intrusion into his life, and their effect on those close to him - his crippled sister, his shrewd mother and his impatient father - pushes Fred to consider the divided familial loyalties that crowd his life.

Newby's wonderful third novel, the skill, understanding and sympathy of which recalls D. H. Lawrence at his best, was to firmly establish him as one of Britain's finest writers of fiction.