| Synopsis: |
The story of an English country house and the very different groups of people it shelters in wartime. The Laurences have lived at Levet since the time of George III, but the family is now effectively shrunk to Sara, the younger Mrs Laurence, a former actress unhappy in surroundings alien to her, and her mother-in-law Lydia, still striving to uphold the old values. The domestic staff is ruled by Cook and an elderly Nannie, who finds new purpose when evacuees Mrs. Vidler and her children Tommy, Rosie and baby Herbert arrive from the East End. They all struggle with the fortunes of war and the changing social order, but it is the worst winter in living memory that succeeds in uniting these disparate inhabitants of Levet and lets them move on to new and different lives. Originally published in 1940 |