Margaret Phillips is a powerful woman, one of the first of her sex to achieve the office of Archdeacon. She is intelligent, confident and capable, and though things have not always gone smoothly for her, she has reached a stage in her life where both her career and private life are harmonious. If there is one thing she can be sure of, it is the love and support of her husband Hal. Valerie Marler, best-selling author, is in control of her fictional world, a world where her privileged heroines always end up with the men of their dreams. She's in control of her own life as well: talented, beautiful, rich, and with as many men as she wants, Valerie calls the shots. Until she meets Hal Phillips, who revels in his status as a happily married man and who is not interested in what she has to offer. Rosemary Finch, the vicar's wife, hasn't been blessed with the same gifts as Valerie Marler; she is neither rich nor beautiful, and her life has not been an easy one. But she loves her husband, Gervase, and they both adore their Down's Syndrome daughter, Daisy. Then something happens which will shatter her equilibrium - she too meets Hal Phillips ... the man Valerie Marler wants and can't have.