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An abandoned hunting lodge in north Cork is the starting point for this literary restoration of a former age. Beaufoy found and fell in love with Lissaguirra but, lacking the money to restore it, chose instead to make it the setting for her latest novel. Among the characters who inhabit the house are Edie Chadwick, who arrives in 1936 to oversee its clearance and sale. In the attic she discovers the diaries of Englishwoman Eliza Drury, who came to Ireland as a governess in 1840. Edie immerses herself in Eliza's colourful life – including her friendship with author William Makepeace Thackeray and her part in the writing of Vanity Fair – and traces the house's story through happiness and tragedy. This is an entertaining tale of resourceful and independent women at a time when, as Thackeray remarks, "I didn't know that a woman could be my equal." The result is an evocative recreation of a place and of those who once dwelt there.
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