A riotous, enthralling portrait of leisured life at the family home of Garonlea in the early years of the century
One glorious gothic mansion - Garonlea - and two rather different ladies who would be Queen . . .
Lady Charlotte French-McGrath has successfully ruled over her family with a rod of iron until the arrival of Cynthia: beautiful, young, talented, selfish - and engaged to her son Desmond.
When Cynthia enters the Jazz Age, on the surface her life passes in a whirl of hunting, drinking and romance. But the ghosts of Garonlea are only biding their time: they know the source of their power, a secret handed on from one generation to the next.
Molly Keane ... is robust about sinful human nature and the intrigues of the heart... - V.S. Pritchett
Psychologically sharp, socially knowing and closely knit - IRISH TIMES
The characterisation of women is first class - Sebastian Faulks
She is akin to Jane Austen in her feeling for the minutae of human behaviour - Polly Devlin
Molly Keane ... is robust about sinful human nature and the intrigues of the heart... - V.S. Pritchett
Psychologically sharp, socially knowing and closely knit - IRISH TIMES
The characterisation of women is first class - Sebastian Faulks
She is akin to Jane Austen in her feeling for the minutae of human behaviour - Polly Devlin
Molly Keane was born in Co. Kildare, Ireland, in 1904 into a 'rather serious Hunting and Fishing Church-going family' who gave her little education at the hands of governesses. Molly Keane's interests when young were 'hunting and horses and having a good time'; she began writing only to supplement her dress allowance. She died in 1996.