Two friends fall under the spell of a New York beauty - with quite unexpected results.
An offhand remark is taken seriously by a Chinese sculptor, and a British diplomat becomes the owner of a priceless work of art.
An insurance claims advisor has a most surprising encounter on the train home to Sevenoaks.
The openings to three of this marvellous collection of stories that ends with a hauntingly-written, atmospheric account of two undergraduates at Oxford in the thirties, a tale of bitter rivalry that ends in a memorable love story.
