Genteel life at 'the 'Big House' continues while the Irish War of Independence rages beyond the gates, but for how long? Read Elizabeth Bowen's accessible feminist take on the Irish aristocracy With an introduction by Victoria Glendinning The Irish troubles rage, but up at the 'Big House', tennis parties, dances and flirtations with the English officers continue, undisturbed by the ambushes, arrests and burning country beyond the gates. Faint vibrations of discord reach the young girl Lois, who is straining for her own freedom, and she will witness the troubles surge closer and reach their irrevocable, inevitable climax.