The book follows the lives of Hilary, the narrator, and three of his friends whom he met at Cambridge. One soon dies - another (Adrian) writes a hugely successful novel and marries Doria. Jaffery is a larger than life character who falls in love with Doria at first sight. Also in the story are Liosha, a fiery Albanian widow rescued from a life of servitude partly by Jaffery’s intervention, and Barbara, the steadfast wife of Hilary. Their lives change and the story develops as Adrian struggles to write his second novel. (Summary by Simon Evers)