After an affair lasting twenty-six years, Jean Banks' married lover dies. Gradually the self-assured Jean is overwhelmed by loneliness, sleeping pills and depression. Routine tasks defeat her - and she avoids suicide only by a twist of fate. In the midst of her unhappiness, a friendship blossoms with Victor's widow, and ultimately life and love are rediscovered. A Second Wife, the sequel to A Loving Mistress, is the story of a very human recovery - the journey from darkness to all-enveloping love.