A Cup Of Tea: A Novel Of 1917

Description

Rosemary Fell has everything she wants. Born to privilege, she has many friends, a great deal of money, and now she is about to marry Phillip Alsop, a shipping concern owner. It is then, in a moment of beneficence, that she invites Eleanor Smith, a penniless young woman she sees under a streetlamp in the rain, to come to her home for a cup of tea and to warm herself by the fire. While there, Rosemary sees Eleanor exchange an unmistakable look with Phillip, and suddenly everything in Rosemary's carefully sculptured life changes. Rosemary sends Eleanor on her way, but she cannot undo this chance encounter that puts into play a tempestuous and all-consuming triangle. As the war builds in Europe, Phillip is sent to fight abroad, throwing all of their lives off balance. Inspired by a classic Katherine Mansfield short story, A Cup of Tea is brought to life by its vivid (and often amusing) cast of characters, its wonderful period detail of New York's drawing rooms and hat shops, and by its delightfully spare and picturesque sense of story.

A novelist and screenwriter, Amy Ephron is the author of A Cup of Tea, White Rose, Cool Shades, Bruised Fruit, and Biodegradable Soap. She lives in Los Angeles with her three children.