A middleaged librarian whose life and marriage are in a rut unravels the secrets of a suburban avenueThe story begins with a scantilydressed girl dancing in a lighted window across from Francis Copelands house Francis now middleaged whose life and marriage are in a rut fantasises about the girl and finds it hard to accept as he discovers later that she is just plain Judy a dancer in the local pubFrancis was brought up in a cottage on a big estate where his father worked as a gardener He spent his early years surrounded by fields And then the houses started mushrooming His own secure world was shattered at the age of twelve when his mother was killed by a motor car which was recklessly driven by a neighbour whose identity was concealed from FrancisFrancis wife Myrtle is older and more worldlywise than Francis She spent most of her youth gallivanting on the avenue or going with boys and her friend Ida to the blackberry field Francis on the other hand is rather innocent of streetways having spent most of his youth looking after his widowed father as he grew senileWith no offspring of his own Francis befriends the children of the avenue especially Freddy the supposed son of George and Noreen Browne Freddy is a denizen of the streets neglected by his father and his invalid mother but a likeable rogue nonetheless Freddy and his dog Melancholy suffer tragically at the hands of the ciderdrinkersThe hidden world of the avenue unfolds to Francis as he emerges from behind the covers of books he works as the local librarianthe haven where he had ensconced himself since his mothers death Who is Myrtle his wife Does she genuinely go to bingo every Tuesday night He does not know her Who are the real parents of Freddy Who was the neighbour whose car killed Francis mother Raw suburban truths are exposed as Francis with the help of the local children slowly unravels the secret