A beautiful hardcover cloth bound gift edition deserving of a place in every home.


Set in the idyllic English countryside of the 1940's, this is the diary of Cassandra Mortmain which tells of her extraordinary family and their life in a ramshackle castle. First, there is her eccentric father. Then there is her beautiful sister, Rose; vain, bored and desperate to marry and escape from her crumbling family home. Their stepmother Topaz, an artist's model and nudist, with a flair for wondering the castle grounds uninhibited by the constraints of modern clothing. Finally, there is Stephen, dazzlingly handsome and hopelessly in love with Cassandra.

But all their lives are soon transformed by the arrival of new, wealthy neighbours from America and Cassandra finds herself falling in love.

Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 4 members.