Bethany Mellmoth has set herself a big goal. She wants to become a writer. Or maybe a photographer after all? Or an actress? As quickly as she makes a plan, it is passé again. Something always comes up. And Bethany doesn't have a lucky hand in love either. There is no shortage of admirers, but unfortunately none of them is any good. And as if all that wasn't enough, Bethany also has to deal with her parents' love turmoil. So she stumbles through her life in London - from job to job, from man to man, from bankruptcy to bankruptcy - and yet never lets her head hang: 'Things just go wrong.' With verve and a light hand, William Boyd paints the picture of a young woman who has many doors open to her, but who nevertheless constantly bangs her head against the wall, and he tells of all the small decisions and coincidences that shape our lives - whether we like it or not.