Patrick Gale's first novel is suffused with heady wish-fulfilment as two contrasting love stories entwine in the space of one simmering summer week.

WPC Mo Faithe is overcome with lust while investigating a series of violent attacks on newspaper astrologers. Meanwhile in Cornwall, the Peakes are conducting their annual music festival, the cue for their two `children' - Seth, a young violin prodigy, and Venetia, a highly-strung scholar - to embark upon a voyage of self-discovery. As Seth sets out in hot pursuit of unconventional romance on the cliff-tops, the virginal Venetia displays every symptom of an immaculate conception.