Written with razor-sharp wit and keen psychological insight, this compelling novel explores the way people—husbands, wives, parents, children, lovers—use and abuse each other. Under the meticulously maintained social conventions of the wealthy Warner family lie more primitive impulses and desires. As each character faces a crisis, we start to see the fascinating ways in which they make moral choices. "Philipson gives us a very believable portrait of a marriage. He also gives us no easy answers . . . and best of all, real storytelling." —Publishers Weekly "This solid and serious novel emerges as not just an expose of what really goes on behind the well-groomed facades of the affluent, but a thoughtful exploration of character and the efficacy of moral action in forming and reforming it." —Jane Larkin Crain, New York Times Book Review "A swift, no-fudging narrative by a writer it is always rewarding to rediscover." —Sophie Wilkins, National Review "An extraordinary novel, fascinating, compelling, and totally disconcerting." —Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Has the drama, intelligence and moral force of an American Howards End."-Cynthia Ozick