Sara Causseley could not be more delighted by her new job as governess to the aristocratic Hallam clan. The children are adorable, the gardens are a dream, and the conversation is stimulating. But ominous political clouds are gathering over Europe, and as England slips inexorably toward World war II, the Hallams’ political views make the family increasingly unpopular. No one, though, suspects the extent of the malice that is percolating in the surrounding countryside until a human skeleton – and then a human corpse – are found on the Hallam grounds, sending some kind of ugly message. That message and the source of its hate will remain all but incomprehensible to Sara, until war has left her with a very new view of those sunny picnics on the Hallam lawns.

“Barnard is a superb stylist…the period [between the two world wars] has been captures perfectly, and the characters are beautifully delineated in this elegant and compassionate novel”

- Toronto Star

“This is writing of real distinction … a subtle and nunaced book”

- New York Times

“Brilliant evocation of the period, and equally brilliant portrayal of a family falling to pieces under the strain imposed on it”

- Times Literary Supplement