A chilling tale of murder and passion deep in the bayou from the Orange Prize-winning author of Property. Claude is a middle-aged man unwillingly attached to Mona, a woman obsessed with marriage and respectability. Then one night he meets the exotic Alexandra - regal, tall and spare, skittish and powerfully independent. When her rich friend Diana falls pregnant, Alexandra and Claude agree to accompany her to Diana's house hidden deep in the bayou, where they will assist her with the birth. They are joined by Collie, the housekeeper and Banjo, a drunken old handyman. At the house, Claude hears a disturbing and haunting story of a man similar to himself who was also involved with Alexandra and Diana and was found murdered in a hotel room. This is a gothic and mysterious tale set deep in the heart of the bayou.