Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge. Gauguin's epigram serves as the motto for this moral tale of two women, both in their sixties, whose lives are interwoven in ways neither of them yet understands. Madeline Palmer is a retired curator, living alone on the Isle of Wight. One day Frances Beale comes to her door, a woman she has met only once, who is now enjoying sudden success, late in life, as a popular novelist. The result is a surprising and profound meditation on what can emerge when a man's wife and mistress finally confront each other.