Avery North has been contentedly married to Ellen for twenty years, they have two children and live in the rural commuter belt outside London. When his mother advertises for a companion, the French girl who arrives sets her sights on Avery and callously threatens the happy marriage.

Deeply involving and perceptive, Someone at a Distance is Dorothy Whipple’s last novel, first published in 1953 and re-issued by Persephone in 1999.