In 1914, when Nicandra is eight, all is well in the big Irish house called Deer Forest. Maman in beautiful and adored. Dada, silent and small, mooches contentedly around the stables. Aunt Tossie, of the giant heart and bosom, is widowed but looks splendid in weeds. The butler, the groom, the land-steward, the maids, the men - each has a place and knows it.Then, astonishingly, the perfect surface is shattered when Maman does something too dreadful ever to be spoken of...
