P 2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC|Sparky Christina and her saintly adopted sister Pam couldn’t be more different. Raised in New York, they are sent to boarding school in England where they meet the similarly mismatched friends Jago and Peter. The four embark on a dazzling series of pairings and partings, outrageous coincidences, and eleventh-hour entrances. Their camaraderie is interrupted one disastrous Halloween when schoolboy revelry turns horribly wrong. Three years on, as Christina analyzes the wit, cruelty, and crossed genders of Shakespearean comedy, the cast of her own life reunites and the curtain falls on some gloriously unexpected partnerships.

'Why did it take me so long to discover the singular joys of Barbara Trapido’s novels? Why, for so many years, had I missed these witty, soulful, heartbreaking, expansive, brilliant tales? I have become a literary evangelist on her behalf. On account of my badgering, all my friends now love her, too. I won’t rest until everyone in America has read (and fallen in love with) this fabulous author.' --Elizabeth Gilbert C 1994 Barbara Trapido