While many regard her marriage with admiration and a trace of envy, Jane Lytton quietly reaches the shocking conclusion that her relationship with Michael, a successful banker with little time for the nitty-gritty of family life, has failed. Jane's decision to leave a man who does not love her, but who has shown no obvious signs of abuse or neglect of her or their children, is greeted with a mixture of vitriol and uncomprehending sympathy by family and friends. Help and strength come from the most unlikely direction, but then Jane is thrown off balance once more. When her vision at last clears to reveal her best chance of happiness, it seems she may have left it too late.