"August is the month of my vacation," announces the psychiatrist to his patients at the beginning of this poignantly comedic novel. For two of Dr. Tristam's regulars - Lila Alison and Martin O'Brien - his matter of fact statement threatens to shatter their psychological stability, as they seek to fill the emotional void created by their psychiatrist's "break." With deep insight and stylistic brilliance, Edith Heal explores the inner recesses of each of her characters as they attempt alone to reconstruct lives previously dependent upon one another. -- inner flap of dust jacket.