 Effectively exploring themes of infidelity, self-loathing, suicide, and emotional disconnection, the novel depicts three characters so alienated from society and reality, that they depend solely on each other.This unhealthy fixation slowly eats away at their individual relationships and themselves, until eventually culminating in despair and tragedy.Carter's novels "Shadow Dance" (1966), "Several Perceptions" (1968) and "Love" are sometimes referred to as the "Bristol Trilogy".