Emma and Henry Lingard and Holly and Felix Craven are neighbors, old friends, durably wedded. Each thinks he understands the other well; better, perhaps, than he understands himself. All except Emma. She cries for help out of her private nightmares, but no one listens. Her recourse is a fantasy life written out in unsent letters. Then a series of crises shatters the tenuous balance of Emma's life and the routine of their days...