Set in Carriglas, County Cork, this book tells of Sarah Pollexfen, who becomes a governess to the Rolleston family at the beginning of this century. Two wars later, she dies in the house that was once so magical for her. How and why that magic becomes tarnished is the main theme of the novel. William Trevor's first novel, "The Old Boys", won the Hawthornden Prize in 1964. Since then he has received other honours for his work including the Royal Society of Literature Award, the Allied Irish Banks Prize for Literature and the Whitbread Prize for fiction. He is a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and has been awarded an honorary CBE. The author plans promotion tours in both Ireland and England.