Meet Petula Montague, social climber par excellence. A lucky second marriage to a billionaire has made her grande dame of The Heights, a mansion atop a leafy hill in an English backwater. With the determination of a prima ballerina, Petula sets out to widen her social circle so that it includes lords of industry, famous actors from London, and the country's most famous poet. In her wake are the frayed lives of three unloved children. The oldest daughter, Evita, flees the scene only to succumb to addiction and madness; the middle son, Jasper, moves from the Heights to a cottage on the...