INTRODUCED BY HILARY MANTEL WITH A BEAUTIFUL COVER BY TEXTILE DESIGNER FLORENCE BROADHURST

'The perfection of its tone and prose is matched by an anguished wit' AMANDA CRAIG, GUARDIAN

'Wonderfully sinister, so enchantingly written and so sad. Everyone should read it' JILLY COOPER

'A subtle and beautiful book . . . Very few authors combine her acute psychological insight with her grace and style' HILARY MANTEL, SUNDAY TIMES

Imogen, the beautiful wife of barrister Evelyn Gresham, is facing the greatest challenge of her married life. Their neighbour Blanche Silcox, competent, tweedy, middle-aged and ungainly - the very opposite of Imogen - seems to be vying for Evelyn's attention. And to Imogen's increasing disbelief, she may be succeeding - for in affairs of the heart the race is not necessarily won by the swift or the fair.