In 1919, the Armistice has ended the fighting but not the grief, unemployment and shortages left by war. Teddy travels to France to see where Ned died and is changed by what he finds. Polly, mourning Erich Kuppel, goes to New York in search of a new life, while Jessie and Bertie remain in London and wait for the chance to begin their marriage properly.
Jack attempts to build a career in civil aviation but faces failure and unemployment as Britain struggles to absorb veterans and convert wartime industry. In New York, music, nightlife and Prohibition offer Polly escape without erasing loss. The novel follows a generation trying to dance beyond memories that cannot be forgotten, as the social energy of the 1920s grows from the ruins of 1914–18.
