I enjoyed this although it started slowly and ponderously.
Illyria is a country estate, somewhere near New York, to which leading artists (writers, painters and musicians) are invited to sojourn. The central figure, Janet, is a minor novelist, married to an insurance co-director and has left him and their two children at home for the retreat.
The first half is mainly discussions between the guests, but the plot takes off when the beautiful daughter of the owner arrives. All the men are in thrall to her, and Janet and the other women are put out. After Janet’s possibly gay platonic lover takes the girl and others to the races, she stays in Illyria, and goes stock car racing with a disreputable abstract artist who is also staying there. On their return he seduces her, and this results in fundamental reflections on the life she is living.
Better than this implies.
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