It is 1852 and three young people meet for the first time in High Court of Chancery. They are the latest victims to be caught in the long-running court case of Jamdyce vs Jamdyce. A case which has caused the financial and moral breakdown of many previous claimants.
Explores the relationships between the members of the Ramsay family and the changes brought to their world by the First World War
When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as 'a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action'. She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path. But that way leads to disillusionment and a future as constricted as 'a dark narrow alley with a dead wall at the end'. In a conclusion that is one of the most moving in modern fiction, Isabel makes her final choice.