Lessons in Duplicity (Paperback)

John Tamplin is shattered when, during a normal business trip to Central and South Africa in 1970, he finds himself at the Victoria Falls Hotel in bed with Avril Llewllyn-Rhys. They were separated by her parents 26 years earlier when he was 18 and she was 15. He is still unable to resist her, although the sweet young girl has turned into a sophisticated, self-assured and mysterious woman who expects to get what she wants. She introduces him to members of the Rhodesian rebel government, and shoots their way out of a sudden terrorist ambush. They part, not expecting to meet again.
Back in England with Eleanor, his adored wife to whom until then he has always been faithful, he finds that the family shareholders in the company for which he works are squabbling about its future and that he cannot avoid being sucked into the argument. He tries to put all thoughts of Avril out of his mind and get on with his difficult business task with its many complications in which he learns that his normally open and honest way of managing becomes increasingly impossible, even when he is trying to save the livelihoods of most of his colleagues. Eleanor worries that the man she loves is changing, and they are both unhappy that they are ceasing to share a common view of the world.
Unexpectedly, Avril appears in England and attempts to take charge of his life. As he fights his way more and more ruthlessly through labour disputes, takeover bids and merger talks with a German company, he is subjected to the influence of the two women. Eleanor is offering him a future in which he would try to live a good life. Avril is offering one in which you do what you have to do to get what you want. It is Eleanor'sdetermination and the surprising relationship which develops between her and the younger of the two women family shareholders which, in spite of his last treacherous action, enables him to find a way forward.