Emmanuel is a famous playwright. Lillian is his sickly and embittered wife. They have never fully buried the memory of their dead daughter, Sarah. Rich but discontented, they flit from capital to capital in the company of their hero-worshipping young manager, nomads on international airlines.Then Alberta, straight from an English vicarage and the pages of Jane Austen, is appointed as Emmanuel's secretary. This prim and utterly delightful figure helps the family in ways they didn't know they needed. One by one the leopards change their spots . . .'The characterization is the triumph of this book. Miss Howard has an exquisite sense of place' Observer'Howard is such an astute observer of human behaviour. She conveys volumes with tiny, brilliant touches . . . This is Howard's true magic: her humanity transcends the individual' Sunday Times