Gerald Middleton is a retired historian looking back on his life. As a student, he witnessed the unearthing of a pagan fertility statue during an excavation of a seventh century bishop's tomb. He also began an affair with Dollie, his best friend's fiancée and the one who confessed to placing the statuette in the grave as a joke. While trying to uncover the truth, Middleton struggles with his terribly domineering wife and their three emotionally flawed children.