Sybille Bedford's first novel, launched in 1956 and now hailed as a modern classic, offers a portrait of two intertwined German families - one Jewish and one Catholic - in the years before the First World War

A Legacy is the tale of two very different families: the Merzes and the Feldens.

The Jewish Merzes are longstanding members of Berlin's haute bourgeoisie who count a friend of Goethe among their distinguished ancestors. Not that this proud legacy means much of anything to them anymore. Secure in their huge town house, they devote themselves to little more than enjoying their comforts and ensuring their wealth.

The Feldens are landed aristocracy, well off but not rich, from Germany's Catholic south. After Julius von Felden marries Melanie Merz the fortunes of the two families will be strangely, indeed fatally, entwined.

Set during the run-up to World War I, a time of weirdly mingled complacency and angst, A Legacy is captivating, magnificently funny and profound: an unforgettable image of a doomed way of life.

A W&N Essential