A rose garden. A woman with white hair. An embossed envelope from the palace. Lucy Forrester, for services to literature, you are nominated for a New Year's Honour. Her hands shake. But it's not excitement. It's rage. For five decades, she's performed angry poems, attacked government policy on everything from Suez to Trident, chained herself to embassy railings, marched, chanted and held placards high. Lucy knows who she is. Rebel, activist, word-wielder, thorn in the side of the establishment. Not a national bloody treasure. Whatever this is - a parting gesture, a final act of revenge, or the cruellest of jokes - it can only be the work of one man. Dominic Marchmont, outspoken literary critic and her on/off lover of fifty years, whose funeral begins in under an hour. Perhaps, suggests husband Ralph, the invitation isn't the insult it seems? What if Dominic - the man they both loved - has left her an opportunity? Perfect for fans of Margaret Forster, Ali Smith and Penelope Lively, this compelling portrayal of the bohemian life of an activist poet, the men she loves, and the issues she fights for will leave you thinking long after you turn the final page.