'There is quite a Bloomsbury set, is there not?'

'There is, ' said Miss Clame, 'but we're not in it. We're just the tiniest bit west, both spiritually and geographically.'

Miss Clame certainly never concealed her limited income nor that she lives with two spinsters, Mavina Trelawny, who nearly climbed Mont Blanc, and Godiva Smith, who coloured pottery, but these were undoubtedly factors preventing her freely declaring her love for Geoffrey Remington.

In this elegant, beautifully written novel, C.H.B. Kitchin explores with wit and compassion the frustrations of genteel poverty.