Southern Rhodesia, 1966. When fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Tarrant is left orphaned after the brutal murder of her parents, she is sent to England to live with her uncle, a virtual stranger, in London. Jack Merrick, a top theatrical agent and impresario, is 42 years old and homosexual. He suddenly finds his life in upheaval with the burden of his late sister's child who he hasn't seen in over 10 years. 
As he tries unsuccessfully to put his personal life on hold to care for Elizabeth, he embarks on a downward spiral into depression. This was the era of free love, where a single flower became the symbol for peace; the era where censorship and prejudice practiced by those in authority caused misery to thousands like Jack. The fifteen-year-old Elizabeth embraces the change she finds in London, but her vulnerability together with the physical confusion of adolescence, compels her to lead her life through an elaborate maze of plots and schemes after she meets 'the impersonator'.
This is the story of two family members who become hopelessly infatuated with the same person. "The Impersonator was inspired by my time as a young singer coming up to London from the West Country and living and working in Soho," explains author Ann Mann. Ann is also inspired by authors including Daphne Du Maurier, Andrea Newman and Joanna Trollope.