Publisher's Synopsis
This novel set in 1908 figures John Scott as the central character who takes up headmastership of a school in the village of Slateford near Forfar.;He has an affair with a Russian woman although he is already in an established, albeit cool relationahip. His son, the narrator uses gossip, guesswork and imagination to develop the theme which closes on Scott's marriage to his previous girlfriend who makes him "a willing prisoner" of convention.;The author is winner of the 1986 Royal Bank of Scotland/Saltire Society Award and the 1987 Scottish Arts Council Award.
