There is also a new introduction by Graham Foster, a fully annotated text, and several appendices of previously unpublished writing by Burgess.

[3] Ronald Beard, a screenwriter specialising in musicals, is grieving the death of his wife, Leonora, from cirrhosis of the liver.

He is convinced by a Hollywood mogul to write a musical based on the life of Lord Byron, and Percy and Mary Shelley, so he makes the trip to Los Angeles to meet with the studio.

Eventually, Beard, suffering from an unnamed, and terminal, tropical disease, settles down with Leonora's sister in England.

The plot of the novel is loosely based on the Orpheus myth, including elements of Jean Cocteau's version Orphee.