This is the seventh book in the series of novels which comprise the saga which is 'Ordinary People', a tale of the lives and loves of the people who live in and around a village Green in the small, fictional English village of Middlewapping, somewhere in the south of England. Most of the characters in the book will be familiar to those who have read the first six parts of the saga, and here we see how their lives go on in the face of new and challenging circumstance. As with previous parts of the story, there is a link to the past, and the present day story runs in parallel with events which occurred in the 17th century, which profoundly effect our modern - day characters. In the historical part of our tale, England is in the throes of civil - war, and certain of those who now live around the village Green face a danger of a quite different nature, the roots of which go back into the mists of uncertain time. Here we encounter death, and new life, a dark legacy from the past, and new hope for the future.