Little, Brown Book Group 2011. Paperback, 304 pp.
At nineteen, Sebastian is a duke and heir to a vast country estate. A
deep sense of tradition binds him to his inheritance, though he loathes
the social circus he is a part of. Deception, infidelity and greed hide
beneath the glittering surface of good manners. Among the guests at a
lavish party are two people who will change Sebastian's life: Lady
Roehampton, who will initiate him in the art of love; and Leonard
Anquetil, a polar explorer who will lead Sebastian and his free-spirited
sister Viola to question their destiny. A portrait of fashionable
society at the height of the era, THE EDWARDIANS revealed all that was
glamorous about the period - and all that was to lead to its downfall.
First published in 1930, it was Vita Sackville-West's most successful
book.