Lady Slane is 88 years old when she realizes that she has spent her entire life only catering to her husband. Hardly has he passed away when she begins to make her own decisions for the first time: she gives up her huge house with staff, allows her children to visit only by appointment, reconnects with old acquaintances, and donates an inherited art collection. Her children are outraged, but her great-granddaughter takes inspiration from her and breaks off her engagement. According to her publisher Leonard Woolf, Vita Sackville-West has written her best book here.