This kept reminding me of a girls school story. It was written in 1932 and even now I’ve probably read more school stories from that era than I have adult literature; and the central character is seventeen year old Olivia who is more-or-less the kind of upper middle class nice girl who might have turned up at the Chalet School or its ilk.

It was just the same turns of phrase and atmosphere that linked this book to my childhood reading though, this is a more honest look at a young woman. The story revolves around the first dance Olivia attends as an adult - covering the short time frame between sorting out the dress and worrying about being in her elder sister Kate’s shadow and a long look at the strange (to both Olivia and I) manners of the dance.

I enjoyed this book in itself, but I’m looking forward to reading the sequel to it, where I believe Olivia is somewhat older and more worldly wise, more.