It the summer of 1976 in this work of fiction, and Frank and Laura travel down south to a cottage by the sea as their son Toby lays bare all that he sees. It is the summer Frank is called away and Laura meets a man in the street. It is a summer of fragile lives, uncertain times, loss and longing, secrets that can destroy, and a time when one phone call changes a marriage forever.

Glyn Parry is a former high school English teacher and teacher-librarian. He has been a ministerial appointment to the State Library Board of Western Australia, the National Advisory Council of the ABC, and the Literature Board of the Australia Council.