Helen Reed, an English novelist in her early forties, arrives at the University of Gloucester to spend the term there as "writer-in-residence" and to teach a creative writing class.

Still grieving over the death of her beloved husband, Helen thinks a change of scenery might be a good idea to get over her loss.

When a student submits some chapters from the novel she is writing, Helen recognises one of the male characters as having been modelled on her late husband Martin.

During a fundraising event, Messenger's wife Carrie tells Helen she knows about her own husband's flings and, by taking a lover herself, tries to get back at him.

When he is waiting for Helen in her maisonette, Messenger cannot resist the temptation to turn on her laptop and read parts of her journal.