"Set mostly in Cape Town and Glasgow.... the twelve stories in this collection... explore a spectrum of human relationships: marriage, friendship, family ties, neighbours, and relations between those who serve and are served... characters include the adolescent girl Elsie, navigating between her new life in the city of Glasgow and her family's vexed history in South Africa, and Dot and Julie, a pair of friends once united by the colour of their skin and now discovering how time and marriage have divided their paths."--Publisher description.