Story within a story. Dorothy Peabody is bored with her clerical work, and her role as her mother's carer. She begins to correspond with novelist Diana Hopewell, who sends extracts from her novel in progress. The novel concerns a headmistress travelling around Europe with several companions. As Miss Peabody becomes more involved with the tale, her life becomes inextricably tied with the fictitious events..POSSIBLE,WILL COMBINE BOOKS TO SAVE ON POSTAGE-PAPERBACK EDITION-MID SIZE