Prudence de Vere has a reputation (which she has not discouraged), as a good-time girl. Born in the mid-Victorian age to careless parents, she has from childhood taken full advantage of a life without rules or purpose. As an adult she dallies with famous actors and cavorts with the likes of Millicent Fawcett of the suffragists and Lady Ottoline Morrell of the Bloomsbury set. She enjoys romances with princes, croupiers and stage hands, and dips her toe into the spiritualist world. She grasps life by the throat and shakes as much fun out of it as she can.

However even Prue cannot escape the shocking realities of the Great War and the turmoil of its aftermath. Like everyone else, she experiences loss and heartbreak. But then along come the Roaring Twenties and the revitalising of a shattered society. In the end, what better purpose can a girl have than to make the most of whatever life throws at her?