A novel which examines a man’s relationship with three different women and the emotions and insecurity that comes though these relationships. Does a rented house exert a baleful influence on these events? Were they fated and predetermined or just due to the characters' failings?

Steve, a young architect, and his wife Anne have sold their house in London and rented one in a nearby country village. The house has a nefarious reputation, and the landlords are hated by the local villagers. The couple are happily married, but their happiness is marred by the fact that Anne cannot conceive a child.

While applying for a minor alteration to the new house, Steve meets Lesley, an attractive young graduate, and they have an affair. On discovering this Anne expels him from their new home and then divorces him. Rejected now by Lesley, Steve leads a solitary life in London. Lesley then writes to him to tell him that she is pregnant, but he ignores it.

Steve meets Karen, a sophisticated gallery owner and tries to overcome his earlier relationship failings. But the rented house he and Anne moved into will continue to have a malevolent hold over his future life.