George thinks he's macho... until he is seduced by an American serviceman. Neddy, the son of Lebanese migrants, marries a peasant girl in an attempt to overcome his attraction to men. Garth, a working-class Catholic boy, escapes to Mexico but eventually returns to reveal a painful secret. With humour and tenderness, this richly rewarding novel charts half a century in the lives of three gay men in New Zealand - and the suffering that comes from leading a double life.