Jane and Malcolm Gray's marriage is characterized by sexual unhappiness and the growing apathy they both feel toward one another. When Jane is confined to bed rest while pregnant with their second child, Malcolm realizes he must escape, leaving Jane in the care of her dear friend and cousin, Lucy, and Lucy's husband James. After Jane gives birth, Lucy and James alternate nights with her, and it is during this time alone together that Jane and James fall in love, beginning an affair as marked by guilt as joy. Through Jane's struggle to reconcile her relationship with James with her friendship with Lucy, Margaret Drabble gives us an intimate look at a woman caught between the claims of sexual awakening, maternal love and friendship.