A new era for women—and the Aubrey sisters—dawns in the trilogy that proves "what an extraordinary, and extraordinarily honest, writer Rebecca West was" (The New York Times).

They have put down their schoolbooks and put up their hair, but a talented musician and her kin ponder what being a young woman on one's own will entail. Abandoned by their feckless father, Rose and her family must move beyond their comfortable drawing room to discover a world of kind patrons, music teachers, and concert hall acclaim, but also domestic strife, anti-Semitism, and social pressure to marry.

Set before World War I, Rebecca West's intimate, eloquent family portrait brings to life a time when women recognized their own voices and the joys of living off one's own talents.