These memoirs reflect the momentous changes that have taken place over the last century through the prism of Flavia Ormond's experiences: first as an evacuee in Canada during the Second World War, then as a returned exile travelling and working in unusual circumstances in Egypt and Italy, where she lived for many years; and finally her love affair with art which led to a rewarding career as an art dealer in London, New York and Paris, moving amongst leading collectors and museums.

Early chapters are profiles of Flavia Ormond's forebears, John Lubbock, an acolyte of Charles Darwin, Augustus Pitt Rivers, founder of the eponymous museum in Oxford, George Agnew of the notable art dealing firm in Bond Street, and the Grant Duffs, her immediate family. The author pursued her passion for cultural history and travel during a long marriage to John Ormond, great nephew of John Singer Sargent.