Fay Weldon brings an aristocratic Edwardian household to fabulous, exuberant life in her Love and Inheritance Trilogy, set over five years at the turn of the nineteenth century.

The Dilberne family lurch from diamond-studded tea gowns to bankruptcy and back again, their fortunes dependent on steam-powered automobiles, Spiritualist gatherings and Christmases at Sandringham. But as the century turns, the rigid rules of society are beginning to soften. Can Lady Isobel survive without three ladies' maids? Will her obstinate daughter Rosina give up Votes for Women once she's married off? And has the vulgar Minnie truly won Viscount Arthur's heart?