When unexpectedly confronted by an ex-pupil, schoolmistress Hannah Smart can scarcely imagine what is about to follow.Now a successful journalist, Lionel Oxley confesses how, whilst in her class, he developed the most intense crush on Hannah. Initially shocked, Hannah has to handle a further revelation when Lionel declares he used to fantasise about her keeping him behind after school for detention, followed by a spot of corporal punishment.Against her better judgement, but otherwise faced with a solitary night at home, Hannah agrees to meet her former star student for dinner.A weird and bizarre game in the restaurant follows, changing the lives of Hannah and Lionel forever. And this is just the start of a merry-go-round of incidents for the two protagonists. Plunged into a maelstrom, they soon find there is always a price to pay for indiscretion. But by now, do they care? Consumed by an unconventional relationship, they seem intent on placing it before anything else as they become ever more embroiled in the affair of a lifetime