One of Muriel Spark’s best loved and greatest novels, now an Essential

London, 1945. The war is grinding to a halt, and the city begins to embrace the hordes who gather to hear the political speeches of the day.

And in the tightly-knit world of a Kensington hostel a bevy of well-bred girls of slender means and intriguing morals are leading lives of ritual femininity, plotting amongst themselves for the suitors who call to confer favours of clothing coupons, meals and more - until the interlude of innocence is destroyed by the tragedy and horror of the times…