When Charlotte Mullen, a fortyish flinty Irish spinster, takes in her orphaned cousin, the beautiful nineteen-year-old Francie Fitzgerald who had been living in Dublin with poor relatives, life in a small Irish village is dramatically upended. As Charlotte plots to marry Francie to a local squire's son, events build to a shocking crescendo with dire effects.

Original published in three volumes, this Warbler Classics edition is based on the combined 1895 publication and includes an afterword by Malcolm Jones and a biographical note.