Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.
Sam and Janet Marshall, a long-married couple with two children, find and welcome frequent obstacles to a peaceful and argument-free life they so claim to want.
In Colne, Lancashire, in the North West of England, Nellie and Eli Pledge may be siblings, but their personalities are polar opposites. If not for inheritance, they would never even think of becoming business partners for five years.
