When Lily is a young teenager, the time comes for her and her friends to
leave school and find work; some are emigrating to America, some going
to work in shops. Lily is going into service in the Big House -
Lissadell.
Lily's employers, the Gore-Booth family, are kind, but life as a young
housemaid can be hard: Lily works long days, she has to learn to get
along with the staff, particularly her roommate, the sullen and
uncommunicative Nellie, and she misses her home and family.
But when Maeve, daughter of Constance Markievicz and niece of the
Gore-Booths, comes to visit and decides to paint a portrait of Lily an
unusual friendship begins between the two girls from such different
worlds.
A warm and engaging story about friendship, life in the early 20th
century and how the political world affects everyone.