Honor Gordon steps into the glittering trap of colonial society in Shirani, guided by her magnificently ambitious aunt Mrs. Brande, resplendent in cobalt blue silk and gold embroidery. But the club doors swing open onto a minefield of snobbery, calculating matrons, and social climbers playing a game where one false step means ruin. Mrs. Langrishe dispenses condescension like perfume; Lalla Paske watches with knowing eyes; Captain Waring stumbles through awkward encounters. Somewhere in this circus of silk and spite, Honor must carve out her place without losing herself. And at the center of it all stands Mark Jervis, a man whose significance the title hints at but the social chess match has yet to reveal. Croker writes with sharp observation about the colonial expatriates, their desperate entertainments and intricate cruelties, asking what remains of the self when everything is performance.
