Dancing Backwards, By Salley Vickers

Novelists, often invited as guest speakers on long cruises, are drawn to tales of enforced conviviality at the captain's table. Being the insightful writer she is, Vickers makes the best of this potentially tedious scenario.

Vi Hetherington, recently widowed after the end of a safe second marriage, has embarked on a voyage to meet up with Edwin, her Cambridge tutor and old flame.

Memories of a long-ago love triangle re-surface as she does her best to evade the attentions of passengers including a retired anthropologist and a dance coach. The novel works best back on dry land.