Doubt soon arises as to the evidence and the fellows are divided into two camps, those who are reluctant to reopen the case and others who override the board.

Snow's considered almost flat prose is often deceptive so subtle are many of the intentions and revelations which ensue.

"[1] Michael Millgate, writing for Commentary Magazine, wrote the book "does not have quite the claustrophobic intensity of [The Masters]; but to look for these things in The Affair to the extent that they are present in The Masters is to misunderstand what Snow is about... the action is sufficiently compelling, both in its psychological complexity and its narrative excitement, to enable the book to stand firmly alone in its own right.

But to be fully understood and appreciated The Affair needs to be read in the context of the whole Strangers and Brothers sequence.

It was adapted for the BBC Sunday-Night Play with John Clements as Eliot and Alan Dobie as Howard.