This short story arises out of my examination of the writings of one of New Zealand’s most significant authors, Katherine Mansfield,. Her writing provided me with insights into ways of managing the blend of domestic interiors, growing social awareness, and the use of irony in the narrative voice. It experiments with ways of updating the theme and tone of several of Mansfield’s ‘Garden Party’ stories: in particular ‘At the Bay’,‘A doll’s house’ and ‘Her first ball’. Set in the 1970s in small-town New Zealand, the story also references elements of New Zealand’s cultural life; its characters are based on musicians, collectors and musicologists who lived in Wellington and Christchurch at the time.