Using detailed diary entries and wonderfully chatty letters to great effect, Anne de Courcy delves into the world of the three Curzon sisters and the Edwardian aristocratic social set that surrounded them. This period, characterised by "rigid etiquette but flexible morals" was a time when appearance was everything, but when the formal dinner parties and motoring to the country to hunt often led to drunkenness and bed-hopping. It reads like a Who's Who of the 1920s and 30s world of fashion, travel and politics, and de Courcy adds a touch of personal melodrama to the royal abdication and her wonderful descriptions of the Dorchester Hotel being used as an upmarket bomb shelter during the Blitz. One of the most interesting and revealing aspects of the book is the notorious figure of Sir Oswald Mosley, fascist party leader and husband of Cim Curzon. His powerful sexual and political pull on Cim's sisters and other women caused much sibling jealousy.