
1902: London Society is in a frenzy of anticipation for the coronation of the new king Edward VII. The Earl & Countess of Dilberne are caught up in the lavish preparations yet Lady Isobel still has ample time to fret. Her sixteen-year-old niece Adela tragically orphaned has run off with a troupe of fake spiritualists; her plain yet clever daughter Rosina is threatening to elope to Australia
- of all places
- & her new daughter-in-law is pregnant with a potential heir yet still completely untrained in the particular ways of the English aristocracy. With her trademark joie de vivre Fay Weldon once again draws her readers into the lives & loves of the aristocratic Dilberne family as they embrace not only a new century but a new generation
- a generation with somewhat radical views...