Following "The rotters' club "And its sequel, "The closed circle, "Jonathan Coe now offers his first stand-alone novel in a decade, a story of three generations of women whose destinies reach from the English countryside...Following "The rotters' club "And its sequel, "The closed circle, "Jonathan Coe now offers his first stand-alone novel in a decade, a story of three generations of women whose destinies reach from the English countryside in World War II to London, toronto, and southern France at the turn of the new century.