Virago Modern Classics

BY THE AUTHOR SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE

INTRODUCED BY POLLY DEVLIN

''Psychologically sharp, socially knowing and closely knit'' IRISH TIMES

''She was . . . marvellous'' GUARDIAN

''A writer of genius'' WALL STREET JOURNAL

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.