Издания и произведения

Mrs Gareth, widowed chatelaine of Poynton, is fighting to keep her house with its priceless objets d'art from her son Owen and his lovely, utterly philistine fiancée. When she discovers that her young friend and sympathizer Fleda Vetch is secretly in love with Owen, she thrusts her into the battle-line. The power struggle that ensues between the three women leaves Owen vacillating. What is at stake is not the mere possession of tables and chairs; it is, for Fleda, a conflict between aesthetic ideals, ethical imperatives, and her innermost feelings, in which she risks betraying, and being betrayed by, all that she holds most dear.

Всю жизнь миссис Герет коллекционирует в своем поместье Пойнтоне произведения искусства, и вот теперь, после смерти мужа, она должна, согласно английским обычаям, передать поместье сыну Оуэну. Беда в том, что безвольный Оуэн находится под влиянием своей невесты Моны Брикстон, которая мечтает прибрать Пойнтон к рукам и навсегда закрыть туда доступ для миссис Герет. И миссис Герет решает бороться за свои сокровища. Интрига развивается, узел взаимоотношений героев романа затягивается все туже, борьба за Пойнтон идет с переменным успехом...

Widow Adela Gereth tells the sensitive and tasteful Fleda Vetch that she's afraid her son Owen will marry the coarse Mona Brigstock. Owen soon becomes engaged to Mona and wants to take over Poynton, the family home filled with Mrs. Gereth's carefully collected furniture and other art objects. He would like Fleda to help get his mother to leave the house with a minimum of fuss. Mrs. Gereth moves to Ricks, the smaller family house. Fleda visits the house and is unhappy that Mrs. Gereth has furnished it with the best pieces from Poynton. Owen says that Mona is angry with the "theft" of the valuable heirlooms. Meanwhile, Owen is becoming…