The quiet side of passion

"As the mother of two small children, Isabel finds herself at the nursery school gate enlarging her circle of friends to include other parents. There she meets Patricia, a musician living in Edinburgh, the mother of a small classmate called Basil Phelps. Patricia takes to Isabel and tries to bring Isabel into her social circle. Isabel is vaguely disquieted by this--there is something about Patricia that she does not quite like, but, with her usua...