There is a peculiar burning odor in the room, like explosives. the kitchen fills with smoke and the hot, sweet, ashy smell of scorched cookies. The war has begun.

Evidently the setting was moved from upstate New York to the English coast. The parents flirt and contemplate adultery while the children learn what they can about themselves and the world. Miranda’s son Charles marries Celia Leonard Zimmern’s daughter in the story “In the Shadow.

Alison Lurie (born September 3 1926) is an American novelist and academic. Although better known as a novelist Alison Lurie has also written numerous non-fiction books and articles particularly on children's literature and the semiotics of dress.