The circumstances in which this English novel is grounded have a familiar ring: Jessica Gore, the protagonist/narrator is a... novelist writing a book that she hopes will reward her with money and fame and work magic on her life. Nothing is going well: the winter is severe and endless, the future vaguely ominous, her scholarly husband seems to be occupied less with his books than with the aptly named Suzette French, wanton and living just down the road. But things are not what they seem; the writer has been making a story of her life. Reality is less lurid. Her husband is not a philanderer; Suzette is not a vamp but a bit of a tippler soon to become a properly married lady. Jessica and her steadfast husband will make plans for living in the warmer south of France.