Swapping

In this very funny tale of infidelity in the English upper-middle class, Ann Forester-Jones is jolted out of her comfortable domestic routine in Hampshire when her husband Antony, an ad man, confesses his affair with beautiful actress Felicia Harman, who is married to a workaholic American banker. Not content with chucking 16 years of marriage for a casual affair, Antony adds that Felicia has been ejected from the Harman household and is on her way to join their menage. Ann, outraged and betrayed, takes the next train to London where she seeks solace at her mother's flat. Meanwhile, down in the country, jet-setting star Felicia finds herself obliged to cope with three children (the eldest of whom loathes the interloper), two dogs and cutting remarks from the cleaning woman and the locals. How Ann and Felicia finally become friends, sharing worries and children, overcoming the selfish men in their lives, how they find new happiness andmore importantfind themselves is told in two alternating first-person narratives. Ann becomes a successful public-relations consultant, while Felicia adapts to country living with a vengeance. Lowe and Ince (Losing Ground) create scene after scene that both touch and wickedly amuse. They are currently adapting Swapping for BBC television. First serial to Family Circle. (April)