'I was a widow. Had I been married to Victor it might have been easier. It was Molly who had the comfort of the children, hers and Victor's… I was left alone to come to terms with my grief, despair and anger, most of all the anger, in a society which is base upon the couple and in which death is unmentionable.'

After an affair lasting 26 years, Jean Banks' married lover dies. Gradually the self-assured Jean is overwhelmed by loneliness, sleeping pills and depression. Routine tasks defeat her - and she avoids suicide only by a twist of fate. In the midst of her unhappiness, a friendship blossoms with Victor's widow, and ultimately life and love are refound. This is the story of a very human recovery - the journey from darkness to all-enveloping love.