This is a typical Anita Brookner novel with a very reserved English woman, Emma, who studies in Paris, and yearns for more than she has experienced. Her deep introspective nature leads her to question where she belongs - Paris or London - and she lives with a "foot" in each city while pursuing her degree in English landscape design. Her relationship with Francoise, a woman whom she knows from her time researching at the library where Francoise works, are very odd, often wistful, and always requires a deep and thorough examination by Emma. One hopes that Emma would eventually find a deeply satisfying love interest that didn't happen during the course of the novel despite two forays in that direction.

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