This novel, first published in 1863, is set in the Devon countryside and is a study of middle-class life in a small provincial community in mid-nineteenth century England. It tells of Rachel Ray, and her suitor Luke Rowan, and his battle to wrest control over Baslehurst's brewery from the ageing Mr Tappitt. P.D.Edwards has also written Anthony Trollope, His Art and Scope (1977), Anthony Trollope's Son in Australia (1982) and edited Trollope's Autobiography and Framley Parsonage.