Cup of Tea: A Novel of 1917

Amy Ephron gives us a delightful tale of romance, set against the backdrop of New York society during the uncertain days of World War I. Rosemary Fell was born to privilege - her only real hardship having been the loss of her mother some years earlier. She has friends and she has a great deal of money, and now she is about to marry Phillip Alsop, who owns a shipping concern and is of her social circle, though not of her wealth. Finally, she will have everything she wants. It is then, in a moment of beneficence, that she invites Eleanor Smith, a penniless young woman she sees under a streetlamp in the rain, to come to her home for a cup of tea and to warm herself by the fire. While there, Rosemary sees Eleanor exchange an unmistakable look with Phillip, and suddenly everything in Rosemary's carefully sculptured life changes. Rosemary sends Eleanor on her way, but she cannot undo this chance encounter that puts into play a tempestuous and all-consuming triangle. As the war builds in Europe, Phillip is sent to fight abroad, throwing all of their lives off balance.