Fun to read, terrible terrible politics. A shabby, uptight, clumsy governess knocks on a door in search of a job, and is sucked in into the glamorous lives of a group of friends. Everyone is handsome, wealthy and charming. It is very playful, but at the end of the day, the beautiful girl ends up engaged with the whitest, English-est and manly-est of men, because he doesn't shy away from 'socking one' to his competitor. Nevertheless, the book is often laugh-out-laugh funny, Miss Pettigrew's character delightful, and there's a lot of playfulness and irony.