Renowned classics professor Roberta Greaves finds her perfect life shattered by her husband's suicide and the huge gambling debts he has left behind. Grief-stricken and angry, Roberta must find a way to pay those debts. Remembering a story by Ovid about intergenerational sex, she decides to write an erotic novel, using a penname because she is worried that her career will suffer if her real identity is discovered. Drama critic John Schubert suspects the truth. Eager to bring Roberta down in revenge for some comments she once made, he finds an opportunity when he spots her with her publisher, who is well-known for the erotic literature he publishes. Meantime, Roberta hears some dirt about Schubert from the street kids with whom she does poetry workshops at a drop-in centre. When Roberta confronts Schubert, he says, "I'll keep your dirty secret if you keep mine." Roberta's life is now a mess of potential blackmail and intrigue. What's more, she learns an unpleasant truth about her “Daddy,” a doctor whose memory she has always revered. Roberta’s interactions with the street kids and the loyalty of her two sons and her friend Carl Talbot enable her to face her bruised world and move forward.

Ann Birch has worked for a decade in Toronto’s finest old houses as an historical interpreter. These places have given her a wide knowledge of nineteenth century domestic, social and political life. She can tell you why table knives had rounded edges, why candles had to be stored in metal safes at night and why even the best people seldom bathed. Ann is a member of several historical societies. What she enjoys most is research into the journals and letters of early immigrants to Upper Canada. Drawing on the knowledge acquired in archives and books, she gives frequent lectures on historical people. Ann is also an award-winning educator. She was Head of English at several Toronto high schools and an associate professor in the teacher-training programs at York University and the University of Toronto. Ann holds a post-graduate degree in Canadian literature and writes essays and reviews for magazines and newspapers. She also teaches writing and does freelance editing.

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