Incompatibility

Incompatible relationships run throughout this vivid story of an unhappy marriage, a son who is at odds with a father he cannot respect, and a coldly beautiful daughter who is unable to form a mature relationship with a man. George and Amy Hatfield and their children, Frank and Dorothy, emerge as living people in this moving and entertaining novel. No less convincing are Gloria Brown, who likes other girls, and the restless and eccentric Kersten Zerdin, whose unrequited love for Brenda Vipan ends in tragedy.

Set in Liverpool between 1926 and 1948, the story is rich not only in emotion but equally in its insights into the sharp class distinctions of the period. The author’s descriptions of the Hatfields, the Browns and the Zerdins serve not only to establish them as memorable characters, but also to underscore the differences in manners, speech, dress and attitudes between people of the lower class and those of the middle.