It is 1917. George Shotton, a marine surveyor, has escaped active service in the war, is trapped in an unhappy marriage with frigid, churchy May. His roving eye falls on Mamie,  a girl of her times – fond of men proud of her brief career as a dancer, enjoying the new freedoms  of wartime.

Mamie Stuart, the object of his affections, is a girl of her time: Sunderland-born, living a louche life in London’s Notting Hill Gate, she has been ‘on the stage’ as one of a dancing troupe, showing off her legs at music-halls. George expects much more than that, but, then, so does Mamie.