Willa, a polite and respectable young woman, lives in a small Edinburgh flat with her baby and mother-in-law. Her husband, Tommy, a navy officer, is away on a year-long world cruise with the Special Service Squadron. Struggling to cope with the tedium and oppression of life without him, Willa's only escape is through the books she reads. Through regular visits to the library she meets a man with a mutual fascination, Richard Fitzwilliam.

Richard, a charming and intelligent young writer, is an exciting new addition to Willa's life. Frequent letters from Tommy fail to evoke the emotion that she now feels for Richard. As their relationship blossoms, Willa must endeavor to keep her new love a secret.

Beautifully written and emotionally charged, After You've Gone is a fascinating account of a woman torn between a husband and another man in 1920s society.