Only Human

Susie Boyt

Marjorie Hemming, marriage guidance counsellor, craves concord and harmony the way other people need cigarettes. But cracks are starting to show in the world she's so carefully remade after her early widowhood. Some of her couples refuse to kiss and make up: even Nurse Rose, the TV heroine who looks so like Marjorie, seems about to make a foolhardy blunder. When her adored teenage daughter unexpectedly moves out, this professional expert on human affairs is forced to look at matters a little closer to home.