ARGONAUT BOOKS

A warm Sunday in November 1957. As Sputnik 2 orbits the earth, carrying Laika, the doomed Soviet dog, a couple begin their day. Virgil Beckett, an insurance salesman, isn't particularly happy in his job but he fulfils the role, playing golf with the partners, drinking in the bar, chasing the women. Kathleen Beckett, once a promising tennis champion, with a key shot up her sleeve called 'The Most', is now a mother and homemaker. Somehow these two have fallen into the roles expected of them - the prescribed suburban dream they have been sold as something to covet, something that will fulfil thei...Read More