"I have spent the winter at my summer place," begins the narrator of this startlingly original literary chiller. Juliana Durrell Smythe, known for her "female in jeopardy" performances on film, fears her roles are proving prophetic. As an actress, she is accustomed to rescue. In movies, "Having known the comfort of muscled arms, I still expect, without reason, to be carried to safety and, ultimately, to be loved." But confined to her Victorian lake house, Juliana discovers the discrepancies between film and actual jeopardy. "The police have not turned out to be kindly, potential lovers...."...

It's Manhattan, on the coldest night of the year and six best friends are rushing to celebrate a festive evening... They are all eager to see the guest of honour, Claire, who vanished after becoming pregnant by a glorious one night stand. Is she misguided or inspired? The debate rages. How can modern working women triumph in such trying times?

Features an American memoir of growing up in New York with eccentric uncles.