An after-dinner walk in the moonlight leads to a series of confessions of first loves, each one sentimental, romantic. That is until Jessop takes his turn and decries the very notion of love itself. He speaks of a tragic affair between an old schoolfriend of his and an innocent Sinhalese girl, and so introduces the central motif of these three stories - the incompatibility of East and West. Based on Woolf’s own experiences working for the Civil Service in Ceylon, these tales provide a brilliant depiction of colonial life.