Conway’s novel is set in 1953 in the seaside village of Tawleigh-on-the-Water, Devon. The story opens in Clarence Keep, the home of Hollywood actress Melissa James. Phyllis Chandler is Melissa’s housekeeper and cook, while her 43-year-old son Eric is the chauffeur and handyman. Eric is childlike and has been taunted since birth due to his club foot. When Eric’s father died in World War II, the mother and son began working. Eric feels dominated by his mother and worries he will lose control of himself one day.

Melissa tells the Chandlers they can take her Bentley and visit Phyllis’s sister that evening. She plans to go to bed early while her husband, Francis Pendleton, goes to the opera. Melissa’s beauty is enhanced by a scar near her mouth. Eric can’t help staring at her, and Phyllis reprimands him for this after Melissa leaves the room.

Clarence Keep is a Regency folly built for James Clarence, a former governor of Jamaica. Designed in a colonial style, the house has sea views. Melissa loves Clarence Keep, but buying and restoring it has ruined her financially. Furthermore, her hotel, the Moonflower, is inexplicably making a loss. At 40, Melissa is no longer offered lead roles, and it has been five years since she starred in a Hollywood movie.