Clarence Martin, a dour and testy small-town lawyer in his later sixties, likes to think he can maintain a stoical distance from the troubles of his clients, especially the women whose female nature is beyond his understanding. Yet over many years he keeps getting involved, especially with his old friend Gladys Hampton and her only child, Sarah. His dealings with them remind him of his own wife, Mary, long-divorced, for a reason he tries to forget, and his step-daughter Annabel, who like Sarah deserted an unhappy home as a teenager. Clarence gets caught up, too, in Sarah's complicated life, including a dangerous episode from which she narrowly escapes unharmed, and which he brings to account in the safe confines of his office. Her early involvements with what appear to be highly unsuitable men result in her alienation from her mother, whose burning desire to preserve the continuity of her 150 year old family estate tests all of Clarence's patience, toughness, and legal skills. Through all these personal and professional involvements, Clarence struggles to deal with the challenges, limitations, and humiliating mistakes of his own maleness. Perhaps they keep him from fully understanding the passionate affairs of the mothers and daughters in whose lives he plays so central a role. But in the end he can share the joy of an event that transcends all barriers between the sexes. More fiction by F.W. Watt Heads or Tails 23 Stories After the Funeral The Road to Sutton The Youth Drug The Lannigan Set-Up Joking Matters Where is Julius