The Last September — Elizabeth Bowen

First published in 1929, now public domain in the US, ''The Last September'' by Elizabeth Bowen is an account of coming-of-age on a great estate in Ireland just before independence, totally brilliant as a portrait of upper-class life, with its tennis parties, discreet servants, and do-nothing guests.

Ireland is in troubled times. The Irish troubles rage, but up at the 'Big House', tennis parties, dances and flirtations with the English officers continue, undisturbed by the ambushes, arrests and burning country beyond the gates. Faint vibrations of discord reach the young girl Lois, who is straining for her own freedom, and she will witness the troubles surge closer and reach their irrevocable, inevitable climax.