Oxford, the early 1960s. She is Rachel, an outgoing young artiste, making claims about the sexual proclivities of her lecturers to Antony, a naïve young Quaker. Despite everything he manages to secure a date with her, but within a fortnight of them meeting, she has tried to commit suicide. For Rachel is a manic depressive - with bipolar disorder, as the book never fails to call it.
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Patrick Gale is appearing at the [http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/2012/10/07/122-patrick-gale-a-perfectly-good-man/ Ilkley Literature Festival] on 7 October 2012.{{amazonUStext|amazon=0007254660}}