The End of an Old Song is the story of three young people; Alastair, a reckless careerist, Patrick, an artist, and Catherine, the self-centred girl from whom they can't break free. Set in the thirties, the war years and beyond, it also evokes the nostalgic passing of a way of life and the destruction of values symbolised by the decline of an old house, Kingisbyres. Scott's novel is one of those rare works in which life blows across the page, careless of time and space and convention, making its own moods and weather. Stevensonian in its movement and warmth, its portrayal of character is as vivid and authentic as its feelings for a time now past.