What Rice does so well is create characters that may appear to be stereotypes but end up as entirely something else. And that, in a nutshell, is the essence of the plot. Penelope is charmed by Charlotte’s insouciance and enlisted by Harry to pose as his girlfriend in hopes of making his ex jealous. Penelope, her brother Inigo, and their mother, Talitha, live in decayed grandeur in their estate Milton Magna, which they cannot afford to keep up. In 1954, Penelope Wallace is made an instant friend of Charlotte Ferris, a vivacious girl who works as a secretary to her Aunt Clare and co-conspirator to her magician cousin Harry. Rice, daughter of lyricist Tim Rice, has created a brilliant portrait of post-World War II London and of a specific sort of set, the shabby genteel.
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