There tends to be a great deal of dialogue in Frederic Raphael's novels; his characters do talk all the time, or so it seems, at least. The storyline of this one hinges on the uneasy relationship of two sisters, one glamorous and self centred and socially successful, the other plain but capable and intelligent. It moves between London and the Dordogne, where the Plain Sister has settled (very fashionably) with her husband, and where she unwillingly and unwittingly uncovers a dark area of the Occupation and Resistance years. Of course, it is all as expert and fluent as ever, but Raphael - who has always looked capable of writing something really good - once more settles too obviously for a slightly routine professionalism.