Set in England, covering the time period from the 1920s through World War II, the story examines the wealthy Flyte family through the eyes of Sebastian Flyte's less wealthy school friend Charles Ryder. The novel is a story of faith and disillusionment in a glamorous upper-class world.

As they pose for the cover of a glossy magazine, the aristocratic Aird family appears to have the perfect life. But beneath the breeding lie dark secrets that will soon jeopardize their storybook world. Edmund Aird is the lord of Balnaird House, one of the most splendid estates in the Scottish Highlands. He and his American-born wife, Virginia, seem to have everything: wealth, beautiful children, and a thriving family business.

The Bluth family returns for another season of life after credit cards.

Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they--and Grace--know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight...

Tells the story of the difficult loves of insular Englishman Charles Ryder and his peculiarly intense relationship with the wealthy but dysfunctional family that inhabited Brideshead. While at Oxford, Charles Ryder meets boyish, flamboyant Sebastian Flyte, who introduces Charles to a charmed and glamorous way of life that continues until Sebastian's health deteriorates.