The story on which you first embark in The Pardoner's Tale is told in the first person by 40-ish Gus, on holiday in Wales to escape the boredom of suburbia and a failed marriage. He rescues an attractive young actress from death by drowning, takes her to his cottage and goes to bed with her: she, too, is on the run from a broken marriage. In the morning, she has disappeared, leaving a note saying that it is better for her 'to come and go like a ghost'. He searches for her in London and meets some sinister characters, including her brother and husband. In Chapter Two, you discover that that is not the 'real' story but a novel-in-progress, being written by 50-ish Giles, because only work and alcohol can make life worth living now that Harriet has left him after being his mistress for seven years.
In alternate chapters, Gus's story continues in the first person, Giles's in the third. Gus's story mirrors Giles's fantasies, hopes, fears, elations and depressions. Both men enjoy what one might call "sexendipity': young available women appear out of the blue and between their sheets…. Indeed, it is difficult to decide where there is more wish-fulfilment, in Giles's therapeutic novel or in the story of Giles's life….
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