I ended up just skimming through this book, which combines very little biographical info and uneven cultural details. I’ve had this on my shelf for so long, waiting for a time when I needed a good escape book. The book gives a large emphasis on Elizabeth Ponsonby, but very little else on figures who are much more widely known.
There are some interesting pictures contained, yet none that I haven’t seen in other books of the era. I wanted more on the literary influences and less on the social elite, although that is rather incomplete. I would suggest skipping this book, since there are some great individual bios and correspondence compilations that contain much more detail.
Rating: 2 stars
theliterarysisters 
Wow! Just shows how readers can differ in a response to a book! I thought this was a great read – balanced, incredibly well researched, interesting and covering all the elements of the BYP phenomena in a way that an individual biog wouldn’t. It’s certainly not a light read so I wouldn’t think it would fit your requirement of an escape read. I found it even-handed, thought-provoking and fascinating personally!
I appreciate your thoughts. Escape book was probably a flimsy choice of wording – I had specific expectations from this book from a referral and they weren’t met in the book. I often look for the larger social implications of a small group (BYT) on larger groups in a particular time in a particular social setting.