The novel is set one November in a seaside town where Deirdrie Fount and her mother Winifred Oddicott run a drapery shop. Deirdre's 11-year-old
son James never knew his father as they divorced shortly after his birth, but he often wonders about his father.
Also in the town are Major Bertram Carpenter and his wife Flora who are residents in a large plush hotel. Bertram met his elderly friend Mr Isepp every couple of days but when the Carpenters return from a cruise from the West Indies he finds that his friend is ill. Bertram visits him at the hospital where Mr Isepp dies - Bertram is shocked by his friends death, aware of his own mortality and also blames the doctors...
Meanwhile, Aubrey Fount, James' father is staying at the hotel where he plans to meet Deirdre and to introduce himself to his son James.
