In 1908, Jessie and Violet enter London society believing the Edwardian world to be a secure kingdom of wealth, elegance and opportunity. The Morlands expand their businesses, arrange marriages and watch the next generation begin careers. Motor cars, telephones, radio experiments and aviation appear to confirm that modern technology can master distance and nature.
Beneath the confidence lie strikes, socialism, the women’s suffrage campaign and a constitutional struggle over political power. Public protest becomes more violent, while competition with Germany makes European war increasingly plausible. The death of Edward VII closes the period’s illusion of permanence. The Morlands begin to understand that the dream kingdom was sustained by inequalities and assumptions that can no longer remain unchallenged.
