In the gloriously hot summer of 1936, a group of people meet at a country house party. Within three years, England will be at war, but for now, time stands still. Dan Ranscombe is clever and good-looking, but he resents the wealth and easy savoir faire of fellow guest, Paul Latimer. Surely a shrewd girl like Meg Slater would see through that, wouldn\'t she? And what about Diana, Paul\'s beautiful sister, Charles Asher, the Jewish outsider, Madeleine, restless and dissatisfied with her role as children\'s nanny? And artist Henry Haddon, their host, no longer young, but secure in his power as a practiced seducer. As these guests gather, none has any inkling the choices they make will have fateful consequences, lasting through the war and beyond. Or that the first unforeseen event will be a shocking death.