The "Auction Sale" relates a sensitive and subtle evocation of country life in the late 1930s. The friendship between Alice Elton and Mrs. Durrant, the latter's sad love affair and the appreciation of fleeting beauty pervade. Such melancholy themes are set in contrast to the auction sale, which Kitchin brings to life through incisive and humorous depiction. First published in 1949, Lord David Cecil described the novel as 'an admirably shaped, delicately finished work of art, reflecting a deeply interesting vision of human life.'