Mary Renault's passionately told story of a doctor trapped between his wife and his lover Doctor Kit Anderson is starting to see his marriage in a new light. Relations are strained with Janet, his beautiful wife, who now strikes him as petty and narcissistic. With no shortage of work to busy him, Anderson resigns himself to the consolations of professional life-that is, until he meets Christie, the great-niece of a dying patient. Warm and vivacious, Christie stands in stark contrast to Kit's wife, and suggests hope of a second and more passionate act to his life. How long can their affair be kept secret, though, and does Kit want the best for Christie, or only for himself?
