This is the third book in the series following the fortunes of the Cazalet family, from the spring of 1942, through the dark, middle period of the war. Polly and Clary have left Home Place for London, where Archie Lestrange keeps a close eye on them; Louise, surprisingly, has married; Polly makes a painful discovery; Zoe, despairing of Rupert's return, stumbles upon solace, while Edward's duplicity demands a reckoning.