Mary Renault is chiefly remembered for her novels set in Ancient Greece, themselves often cited as offering glimpses of a tolerance of queer lifestyles by gay male readers. However, Renault’s second novel, seen here in its American edition, had a contemporary setting and allowed her to give a fictional rendering of her own happiness in a lifelong relationship with Julie Mullard. Renault specifically sought to use the book to resist the tragedy and despair of novels such as The Well of Loneliness, and its light, often humorous, tone subtly but convincingly insists that no love should be discounted.