Francie is an orphan of 19, mischievous, charming, flirtatious, vain and strikingly beautiful. After the death of old Mrs Mullen, she is taken from her working-class home in Dublin, and brought to the small Irish country town of Lismoyle to live with her older cousin, Charlotte, at Tally Ho Lodge. Socially ambitious, Charlotte schemes to bring about a marriage between Francie and Christopher Dysart, the heir to the local estate. But Charlotte's plans begin to go tragically awry, revealing the depths of her own terrible nature. The real Charlotte emerges...

Author

Edith Somerville