In this sequel to "The Virgin in the Garden", Byatt illuminates the conflicts between ambition and domesticity, confinement and self-fulfilment, while providing an observation of intellectual and cultural life in England during the 1950s. The Potter sisters have chosen contrasting lifestyles: Frederica intellectualizes at Cambridge while Stephanie struggles with domesticity. As with all of Byatt's work, there is much more going on underneath the surface, and it all comes encapsulated within her particular form of superlative writing.