"As a child, Ellie compulsively lies her eay into trouble. How else can she escape the reality of being a railway clerk's daughter in a Crystal Palace ville? She wants to love, but it never seems to work out right. She idealizes a beautiful school friend, only to uncover (with morbid fascination) a strange relationship between her friend and a middle-aged chemist. Her first affair is too good to last. It leads to pregnancy and an uneasy menage a trois, which finally erupts into brutal vengence. After fifteen years of struggling with a marriage to the wrong man, Ellie starts drinking. It seems as good an escape as any at first. But it's another mistake..."
