First published in 1957, this book attempts to tackle the conflict between homosexual and heterosexual love. It tells of David, a young man awakening to his true homosexual nature, through a relationship with a barman named Giovanni, as he awaits his fiancee's arrival from Spain.
The story of the guilt, bitterness and spiritual strivings of the Grimes family which is told as the son, John, faces the issue of religious conversion in the Temple of the Fire Baptised.