When Julius Field, elderly professor of classical philosophy, is admitted to hospital, his wife Edith and their two sons, Rupert and Melvin, are drawn closer to each other by their shared concern. Alone and bed-ridden, Professor Field endures the necessary medical procedures, and the personal and career memories and self assessments that invade his mind, some happy, sustaining, some autumnal, deeply saddening. Meanwhile, Rupert and Melvin, the elder a family man with a solid business career, the younger still leading a feckless and unsettled life, discover how much they have in common despite how far apart their paths seem to have strayed. Melvin played a part in the troubled story of Rupert's marriage and entry into the world of international business. Rupert stood behind his brother when Melvin's wayward life reached its dangerous nadir. And now, in their different ways, they try to support each other and their mother in this time of radical need. Edith Field's final response to the family crisis is not entirely what might have been predicted. She seems to have survived as well as or even better than the others. At summer's end, we see her transforming herself, revisiting her family history bravely to see the past, present, and future as beautiful. More fiction by F.W. WattHeads or Tails 23 StoriesAfter the FuneralLoving DaughtersThe Road to SuttonThe Youth DrugThe Lannigan Set-UpJoking Matters