At the beginning, Deborah and her husband are in bed, saying goodbye to each other before he is posted overseas. They swear eternal loyalty. But Deborah is very soon bored by her life in the country with her young son and gets a job in London. She then acquires a lover, and when he is posted overseas another, and another

"The novel opens in 1945. Five Britons, shipwrecked on an island in the Far East in the early years of World War 2, listen to the general election results on their radio and learn that a Socialist government has been elected. They are rescued and return home by ship. While waiting to disembark at Southampton, James prays to God to "fix the election" and let him see "the England of all decent Conservatives' dreams." He hears a clap of thunder over his right shoulder and once on dry land, finds himself in a society designed entirely to suit people of his class. An entertaining satirical novel"--Review.