Description: The book is about three families in England at the beginning of the twentieth century. The three families represent different gradations of the Edwardian middle class: the Wilcoxes, who are rich capitalists with a fortune made in the Colonies; the half-German Schlegel siblings (Margaret, Tibby, and Helen), who represent the intellectual bourgeoisie and have a lot in common with the real-life Bloomsbury Group; and the Basts, a couple who are struggling members of the lower-middle class. The Schlegel sisters try to help the poor Basts and try to make the Wilcoxes less prejudiced. The motto of the book is “Only connect…”

Description: This is a story of a bourgeois British family and their attempts to contain and control the actions of their relations. The story opens with the widow Lilia Herriton embarking on a trip with her traveling companion Caroline Abbott. In reality Lilias family connived her into going on a trip to distract her from a relationship with a gentleman who does not meet their social scrutiny. But while in Italy a worse disaster befalls the family as Lilia falls in love and marries a younger Italian man. When Lilia dies during child birth the family must somehow retrieve the child, who is but a mere pawn in their charade of control and manipulation.