From amazon dot com: The pilot, embittered and disfigured from the war, has designs on the innocent girl. Her farmer-lover feels his hands tied because his own family situation seems to forbid his offering her marriage. This drama unfolds, as do others, during the annual outing of the church choir-a jaunt by bus to the seashore on a brilliant summer morning -a day when everyone, for a while at least, hopes to toss aside his humdrum cares in the fun of a holiday. There is the vicar and his overburdened wife; there is Rose's young brother, whose current heart's desire is to own a dog; there is the spinster who still longs for love though she has almost lost hope; among many others from the village-all of whom are brought warmly and affectionately to life by one of the most satisfactory novelists.