After the Great War, the Rutherfurds, Lady Jane, Nicole and Barbara,
reluctantly sell their beautiful old ancestral home in the Borders to the
nouveau riche Jacksons from Glasgow.  They settle in the Harbour House on the Fife coast and determine to make the best of it, but the ties are not
completely severed as Mrs. Jackson, anxious to fit in but recognising her
limitations, asks for Nicole's help to face the 'county'.
    Even though there are few not touched by loss and grief, this gentle
comedy of manners with its poignant observations and devastating wit is a joy to read.
    This edition includes the short story A Tea-Party at Eastkirk, in which
Anna Buchan first explored the theme of social upheaval after the Great War, with the dispossessed and their usurpers mixing socially and people no longer being certain of their Proper Place.