Jenny is the daughter of an army officer living in India at the time of the Raj. She desperately wants to be an actor and is very talented, touring the country with a company of players, but she meets a dashing young British man with whom she falls head over heels. They marry, but he is killed during the riots leading to Independence. Jenny moves to the UK with her family and ends up living a quiet ‘hum drum’ existence but she still yearns for the excitement of her career in the theatre and what might have been. She encourages her son, Robert, to go into acting so he can have a more exciting life than she has ended up with.

Two Hungarian friends come to the UK after the 1956 revolution. The older man, Tamas, is flamboyant, confident and becomes a successful theatrical photographer. The younger man is reserved, quiet and takes a boring but steady job. Robert, having studied acting, meets Tamas when he goes for a head shot sitting. They strike up a friendship and he rents a room at the Hungarian’s flat. Tamas then asks Robert to take some gifts to Budapest as he, a political refugee, is not allowed back in. Robert meets his future wife in Budapest when he falls head over heels in love with Tamas’ niece Maria. He brings her back to the UK and they live very happily. But theatre must again take a back seat as ‘real life gets in the way’.

Jenny’s loutish son-in-law. Aidan has a fight with Tamas and threatens to kill him. Aidan is murdered and Tamas is a suspect. There evolves a slow-burn psychological thriller with one final remarkable twist before its end.