Pilcher describes the social class of Penelope’s parents as upper-class bohemian. Bohemians, by definition, are people who practice unconventional lifestyles. These social circles often include people with artistic backgrounds, such as artists, musicians, and writers. Penelope’s father, Lawrence Stern, lives a bohemian lifestyle as an artist who spends time in France and England before World War I and never ties himself down to a committed relationship until Sophie becomes pregnant with Penelope. After his marriage to Sophie, Lawrence continues to live a bohemian lifestyle by practicing his profession as an artist, often traveling between London and Porthkerris and visiting other locations throughout France. Penelope is raised in this fashion, and her mother-in-law’s first impression of her as a bohemian is largely based on the fact that she arrives at the hotel for lunch without wearing stockings or gloves as a proper woman would have been expected to do at the time.

Because of Penelope’s bohemian lifestyle as a child, she is a free spirit who is criticized not only by her mother-in-law but also by her daughter, Nancy, who begins the novel by looking down on her mother’s decision to live in the basement of her large house on Oakley Street in London, viewing it as unconventional and improper.