Mabel Winston is a modern successful woman – clever, stylish, and dedicated to her work. She's the non-fiction publishing director of an international publisher. Tom Rutherford, tall, handsome lawyer, is her boyfriend. Kitty, Mabel's daffy personal assistant, jokes that she takes Tom for granted and is too comfortable about the parade of men seeking her favors. Mabel laughs it off as more of Kitty's spirited kidding. But there's more to Kitty than her jokes and amusing self-deprecation.
Raphael Cannane drifts back into Mabel's life after a ten-year break. Mabel and Raf grew up in the same street. Raf's twin sister, Rebecca, was sweet, but Raf sometimes a snarling tomcat. Mabel was often his victim. She could never understand why. Now he is back, troubling her, not in the same savage way, but with a disturbing irony.
Mabel departs with her mother, Miriam, on a pre-planned holiday to England, part of which is a tour of the places in Jane Austen's two Bath novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. At the airport, they meet Dirk Howlett-Smit, a wealthy funds manager. Dirk invites Mabel and Miriam to his sprawling Georgian mansion outside London.
All is going well when Mabel abruptly packs up and flees to Bath with Miriam. Dirk and his daughter, Edwina, follow and join the tour which swells to eight. A seemingly changed Raf is among the new arrivals. The tour is torture for Mabel. Then Tom appears without warning. Worse is to come when she returns to her work. Her private life is in free fall. Will she be moved to reflect on her relationships? Has Raf really changed and what does he want? And what has caused a change in Kitty?