When Sir Alec Guinness died in August 2000, he left behind two exercise books filled with entries in his small, beautiful handwriting, together with an introduction that suggests he planned to have the books published or broadcast. Together they make up this commonplace book, which includes theatrical anecdotes, stories overheard on the street, short musings and reminiscences - and some acerbic comments on certain contemporary television stars.

Until Jack, a divorced psychiatrist, gets a phone call telling him that the family house in Ireland is for sale, he absorbs himself in the problems of others. He has successfully suppressed the anguish of his past, but when he finally returns to the house in Ireland, terrible truths emerge about what happened there years ago in a tragedy that left indelible marks on those who survived it. The facts have been reconstructed many times, but the shocking truth has not ...

A tayla is stranded in Tangiers with no money, so to secure a passage home, she agrees to escort a young English girl back to Great Britain. But once home, the girl's father torments her without mercy. Will he turn her away from men, and love, forever?