Synopsis

A Jewish doctor, Daniel Hirsh and a young woman, Alex Greville are both involved in a love triangle with contemporary sculptor Bob Elkin . Not only are Hirsh and Greville aware that Elkin is seeing the other but they know one another through mutual friends. Despite this, they are willing to put up with the situation through fear of losing Elkin, who switches freely between them. For Greville, the relationship is bound up with a growing disillusionment about her life, failed marriage and uneasy childhood. For Hirsh, it represents an escape from the repressed nature of his Jewish upbringing. Both realise the lack of permanence about their situation and it is only when Elkin decides to leave the country that they both come face to face (for the first time in the narrative and at the end). Despite their opposed situations, both come to realize that it is time to move on.