It is the third in the author's "Langton Tetralogy" (which comprises The Cardboard Crown, A Difficult Young Man, Outbreak of Love and When Blackbirds Sing).

The novel is concerned with the marriage of Diana and Wolfie von Flugel in the years leading up to World War I.

They appear to concentrate on the niceties and absurdities of social exchange rather than the more basic and universal problems of human life.

In particular "Outbreak of Love documents the increasing influence of the intellectual whose knowledge is based on a denial of the spiritual life and of those who enjoy power for its own sake.

It consisted of three one-hour episodes and was written by Howard Griffiths, directed by Oscar Whitbread, and featured Rowena Wallace, Tony Bonner and Sigrid Thornton.