t is the seventies and jobs are scarce. John is an ex-serviceman and desperately wants to provide a home for his wife Angela and their two children. The two embark on a training course run by the Valour Brewery. They are put in a city pub run by Bill and Betty Rowlands, who always take advantage of their trainees and soon it becomes apparent that life behind the bar is not always as it seems. Cleverly woven into the story are the Kenneys another young couple who are down on their luck, a commune of hippies, the executive members of the brewery and some of the customers in the pubs. The stories intertwine throughout the book and take an interesting twist when the Barstows are sent to manage an old declining hotel, which as their young son soon discovers, has a disturbing past.