Summary

In 1948, four very different Britons are thrown together in a central-London terrace.

In 1948, four very different Britons are thrown together in a central-London terrace. Queenie Bligh, an unremarkable working-class woman, is awaiting the return from war service of her husband Bernard. In the meantime, she takes as a boarder a black Jamaican man who was briefly billeted to her house during the war. Then Gilbert's new bride, the prim and proud Hortense, turns up from Jamaica bearing misapprehension about English life and the place of a black woman in it. Then there's the long-awaited return of Queenie's husband, Bernard, who is racist, and somewhat war-damaged. Hortense discovers that her status is the same as that of any other black migrant. The revelation almost destroys her self-esteem, but it also sets her on a path to self-discovery. She ends by beginning to understand Gilbert's strength, Queenie's kindness and the sympathies she shares with them.