博客來Cambridge, 1970s. Jack, introspective and solitary, is drawn to the enigmatic Jo, a daughter of the declining aristocracy whose elegance conceals an estrangement from intimacy. An evening walk by the river and a parting kiss leave him captivated and craving more. Between them lingers Aoife, Jo’s fiery ex-lover, an Irish sprite bound by her religious convictions.
On an early date in town Jack is brutally attacked. Days later he wakes from a coma in hospital. Suffering multiple injuries, incapacitated by a broken leg, Jo and Aoife take him into their care to help him recover and remain at the university. During the day Aoife tends to him, each night Jo sleeps in his bed but their relationship halts before consummation.
Living in intimate proximity, Jack is pulled into an emotional triangle of tantalising desire, shifting loyalties and half-spoken truths. At their end-of-term house party, Jo and Aoife overtly flirt with strangers of either gender. Jack can only sit and watch. On waking the following morning, Jack finds Jo and Aoife lying naked beside him in bed.
Over the Easter break, Jo takes Jack home to her family estate and Jack begins to uncover the shadows of Jo’s past: an early childhood starved of emotion; the loss of a beloved brother, and an adulterous affair which ends in tragedy. Jack realises her sensitive care for him may just be a facade against old wounds, a masquerade of love.
On their return to Cambridge the delicate balance between Jack, Aoife and Jo changes when Aoife shockingly reveals that she has become pregnant. The timing of the conception points to the night of the house party. Aoife staunchly maintains her innocence. Through an unusual act of intimacy, Jo inadvertently has passed on Jack’s sperm to Aoife. The revelation shocks them and fragile bonds of friendship begin to unravel. Jack must step beyond the confines of propriety, Jo needs to bury the remnants of her past, and Aoife must reconcile her freedom and this new commitment.
Brought up as a Catholic, Aoife will not give up the child, nor can she return home. She turns down three proposals of marriage in a single day but with emotional pledges of support from Jack, Jo, and her flatmates, chooses to stay in the flat, continue her life with Jo and Jack, and raise the child.
