Kate Woodcroft is a barrister that in December 2016 she is a bit down after losing one of the cases. Then her clerk, Brian, tells her that he has a case that she will like.
The novel then gives back in time. It is sixteen weeks earlier, and this narration focuses on Sophie, who is married to a junior minister, James, and they have two children. One evening when they are supposed to have dinner with some neighbours, James gets back home late, so Sophie has to cancel. Then James tells his wife that he has been having an affair with Olivia Lytton, his researcher, for five months, but he broke it off a week ago. The problem is that the scandal is going to hit them as the newspapers have got hold of the story, which will appear the next day. Sophie is angry, but she knows that she can't walk out of their marriage. The next thing she knows the director of communication of the government is giving them direction how to act.
We discover that James and the Prime Minister, Tom Southern, go back a long way. They were at Eton and Oxford together, and it seems that there was something that James helped Tom with, and that is why he feels beholding to James.
Then after the affair in the press has calmed down and Sophie is trying to forget the whole thing, Olivia reports James for rape, and Kate is the barrister who will be in charge of the case.
The novel then takes us to the year 1992. Holly Berry is a fresher at Oxford. She comes from a humble family; her father left them when she was very young, and Holly only has an indifferent relationship. Holly feels intimated by all the rich students that surround her, and then she meets Alison, who also comes from the north. Alison is funny, attractive and introduces Alison to a more active social life.
I am so curious to know more about the circumstances about the alleged rape, the link between James and Tom, and what Holly means in this story.
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