Littered under Mercury - Ossie Hopkins - Bog

'Littered under Mercury', set in the '70s, chronicles the persistently turbulent relationship between Jill and Jay. Following the briefest of reunions, she returns to the States whilst he remains teaching in Cheshire, championing the disadvantaged via 'Shakespeare on the Rocks'; radical pedagogy which his colleagues hate but his pupils love.

Jill, meanwhile, thrives in Virginia and is ultimately reunited with her mentor, Sir Anton Keiter, as they attempt to combine the American model of healthcare with a bureaucratic - but free - NHS. Sir Anton is the mastermind, Jill his work-in-progress.

Promoted to the LEA, Jay finds the corridors of power fascinating but serpentine - with the stress on serpents.

For her part, Jill has her own entanglements as she learns to celebrate her bi-sexual life in nursing, the antiques business and her Open University studies.

Matrimony beckons. Elusively...