Ivor died in a car crash two months ago - she may not be adjusting to widowhood very well, but Imogen certainly didn't murder him. As the nights draw in, Imogen finds her home filling up with unexpected Christmas guests - but they may be looking for more than just holiday cheer.

Yet when Linda gets engaged, Madge starts to feel an intangible peril gathering around the girl. ____In each of these short, sharp stories, the long-neglected Celia Fremlin brings women's lives into focus - and an ordinary home becomes the setting for a return of the repressed.