Max Maartinesz is a history professor. He is single and lives alone. Make of that what you will, is what he would say.

His life is by and large ordered and very comfortable. But he always has the distinct impression that something is missing. Perhaps a bit of spice? Then, one day, in the week between Christmas and the New Year, whilst he is taking a break in London, he chances on a travel advertisement in Private Eye: Propitious Peregrinations ®. What follows is an adventure adding so much spice to his otherwise mundane life that he is left wondering if he has made the right choice in, for once, following an impulse, rather than a carefully crafted plan.

What do you think?