Clever Freddie Tanner and beautiful but apparently 'simple' Kathleen Soper are childhood sweethearts in the grimy, deprived streets of the East End, growing up in the shadows of fascism and under the relentless savagery of the Blitz. Kathy's mother dies in childbirth. Freddie's mother dies in a terrible accident in which her violent husband's involvement is unclear. It is an incident which Freddie can never forget, for he is tormented by his inability to say a proper farewell to her. Freddie has high hopes of a glittering, professional career but his, and Kathy's dreams are thwarted by the relentless course of history, their own human weakness and the increasingly tawdry world that followed the war. The author returns to themes previously explored such as the immutability of Time and human transience; sexual licence and fidelity; truth, illusion and fantasy; humiliation and pride; self-esteem through education and the ricochets that come from a damaged childhood. In this regard, Freddie's growing mental instability is deftly and dramatically handled. This humorous and plaintive story, concerned too with Fate and the redemptive power of Love, is set in East London; in Paglesham on the Essex Coast and on the pier of the seaside town of Southend during the years 1936 - 1953.