Bertram Bliss walked through the store, inhaling the scents from the perfumery department and revelling in the presence of so many women. From the Chairman’s office at the top of the building, he directed the affairs of the shop, and the lives of those who worked there. To some, like Sally Manners, the talented display designer, who had her own dual life to manage, he was a subject for mockery; others, like Marjorie Betts, had reason to bless his kindness and resourcefulness; and Paul Jessamy, the ambitious young head of the Household department, admired his business acumen. But it is the true nature of Bertram Bliss’s relationship with his wife that is gradually discovered as the store prepares for Christmas, and on the night of the staff dance a crisis is reached in the lives of several people. Set against the busy background of Bliss’s store, in the provincial town of Sedgemouth, with a large cast of characters, this is a story of lust, frustration and loneliness, and of one woman’s journey to self-knowledge.