In post-war Britain, before Vatican Two, Tessa is the daughter of an amoral and hedonistic mother and an ascetic Roman Catholic father who does not recognise divorce. Tessa is like her mother but she cynically plays the part of a devout catholic, first at her convent school and then in her marriage , while secretly enjoying sexual encounters, in particular the perverted thrill of seducing celibate priests; until, eventually, her hypocrisy is exposed.