A blond lover, a somewhat overweight friend and her brother, a Jack-Russel terrier and a doctor's wife with four children are minor characters in the main character's life and in this novel. But sometimes minor characters play major roles. This is experienced by a star lawyer from the English upperclass, a music teacher from the provinces and a charming hoodlum. With the not only benevolent help of the minor characters, their fate leads them down completely new, unexpected paths, at the end of which happiness beckons and abysses lurk.