Description

Daniel Page's naivety is exposed when he leaves the noxious environment of his single sex public school and enters university. He is bewildered by the shifting standards of sexual morality in the 1960s and becomes unhinged after a brief encounter with a sensuous and liberated medical student, Angela Hartland. Angela, despite the chemistry between them, is disturbed by his neediness and feels compelled to end their relationship.
Daniel, in the throes of rejection, identifies with the tragic story of the love affair between "Clytie" and Frederick Lugard in India in the 1860's. [Lugard was a young captain in the Indian army when he fell for Clytie, the beautiful society hostess and divorcee who seduced and subsequently betrayed him.]
Mark Robson-Browne, a bully from Daniel's schooldays, cynically lures Angela into a sexual relationship. This is a catalyst for Daniel's darkening obsession and he descends into a world of madness where he is haunted by two Clyties: Clytie, the mythical water nymph from Ovid's Metamorphoses, becomes as real to him as Lugard's equally mysterious and alluring Clytie. He has a nervous breakdown and is admitted to hospital.
Angela's medical studies bring Daniel back into her life. Dr Locke – an unconventional psychiatrist – uncovers the hidden trauma in Daniel's past, and recruits her to help restore Daniel to sanity. She is unaware of Robson-Browne's toxic relationship with Daniel and unwittingly provides him with the opportunity to further his vendetta against Daniel. Eventually, the tables are turned, and under Dr Locke's supervision Daniel is able to piece together his past and emerge strongly from the mental ties that bind him.
Angela's impulsive sexuality dissolves the tortured contradictions between Daniel's passionate nature and his restrictive moral standards; but her liberality carries a risk...