When Cassius Clare and his first wife divorced, he insisted upon retaining custody of their two sons; he then remarried and fathered three more children. Now the first Mrs. Clare has returned after nine years' absence, begging to be allowed to visit the children. Cassius takes a malicious pleasure in granting her request, certain that she and the second Mrs. Clare will provide him with an amusing sideshow. Instead, the two women strike up a warm friendship that leaves him out in the cold -- and contemplating an attention-getting suicide attempt.
Compton-Burnett was known as a writer's writer: Joyce Carol Oates called her work Aeschylus and Sophocles funnily reinvented by Oscar Wilde; John Waters described her books as dark, hilarious, evil little novels; and V. S. Pritchett, in 1955, noted she was the most original novelist now writing in English. Discover for yourself why Compton-Burnett is treasured by such a wide range of authors.

Precise, poised, studied, epigrammatic artistry. -- Kirkus

Anyone who picks up a Compton-Burnett finds it very hard not to put it down. -- Ivy Compton-Burnett

A rich story, told with far deeper insight and a bolder, more sure-footed appreciation of subtleties, than I think any of Compton-Burnet's contemporaries could achieve. -- The Spectator (U.K.)