the center of The Virgin in the AtGarden is the Potter family. Bill, the father, is a difficult husband and father: domineering, temperamental, opinionated. He is Head of Department at Blesford Ride School, a boys' school, and is considered to be an excellent teacher. His wife Winifred is a woman who seems to have been worn out and worn down by living with a demanding husband, whom she seems to understand and accommodate but not to love, and three children. All three children are intelligent but otherwise are very different from each other.

Stephanie is a teacher, Frederica is finishing school, and Marcus attends his father's school. Stephanie and Frederica, with their female versions of male names, share their father's literary interests while Marcus is a mathematical genius; Frederica and Marcus both have acting ability, although Marcus refuses to repeat his initial theatrical success.

Stephanie's marriage to a...