1926; and in a country still recovering from the Great War; London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho; peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets; foreign dignitaries with gangsters; and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker; ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children; including the enigmatic eldest; Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies; and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety; there is a dark underbelly; a world in which it is all too easy to become lost. With her unique Dickensian flair; Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems.