Claire - widowed and alone in a foreign country, her children having left home - is in a vulnerable position, and the headmaster of the school at which she is teaching quickly realises this. When he makes her a target, her self- confidence is rapidly undermined and she finds herself desperately hunting for some sort of stability. As her world crumbles around her, she becomes increasingly dependent on others. but there are things she has yet to learn about love.Dorothy Cottrell was born in Scotland in 1953. Educated at Edinburgh and Leicester universities, she began her career as a mathematics teacher. After her three children left home, she travelled and worked around the world. She recently returned to Scotland to be near family including her first grandchild.