Into this eccentric household enter Dorothy, Eustace and Yvonne - the PG's - Dorothy wants to leave as soon as she arrives, while Yvonne takes a great interest in young Sir Phillip, Eustace is charmed by Aunt Anna Rose and determines to uncover her story and the rubies. Waited upon by loyal servant William she has long forgotten where she hid her precious rubies - rubies no one is sure ever existed. Aged Aunt Anna Rose, spends most of her time in an eighteenth century sedan chair, fitted with telephone, her "nest" pretending to travel the world. Like taking in dreaded paying guests from England - while the old guard, Consuelo and Hercules do all they can to thwart them, their escapades smack hilariously of naughty childishness. It is the younger generation, in heir Philip and his cousin Veronica who have to wave the big stick and make the grown up decisions.
Following Roddy's death however, dreadful debts incurred by this lifestyle mean things have to change.
The three have enjoyed a champagne life style of gambling and carousing in their Irish home of Ballyroden. The story opens following the funeral of Roderick Ryall, brother to Hercules and Consuelo. Characters enter stage left and take up their positions, say their piece and move off, just as on stage. Molly Keane (sometimes known as M J Farrell) first wrote Treasure Hunt as a play, and it is easy to see how the play would have been staged, as the novel retains much of the feel of a play. She is buried beside the Church of Ireland church, almost in the centre of the village. The novel was warmly received and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.Īfter the death of her husband, Molly Keane moved to Ardmore, County Waterford, a place she knew well, and lived there with her two daughters, Sally and Virginia, until she died in 1996. In 1981 Good Behaviour came out under her own name the manuscript, which had languished in a drawer for many years, was lent to a visitor, the actress Peggy Ashcroft, who encouraged Keane to publish it. Her husband died suddenly in 1946, and following the failure of a play she published nothing for twenty years. Between 19, she wrote 11 novels, and some of her earlier plays, under the pseudonym M.J. She used her married name for her later novels, several of which ( Good Behaviour, Time After Time) have been adapted for television. She married Bobby Keane, one of a Waterford squirearchical family in 1938 and had two daughters. She grew up at Ballyrankin in County Wexford and was educated at a boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow. Molly Keane (20 July 1904 – 22 April 1996) was an Irish novelist and playwright (born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ryston Cottage, Newbridge, County Kildare).
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