In remote Lincolnshire, "fenny, misty, and flat always," Olivia Arundel can find no outlet for either her intellectual abilities or her fierce passions, but is compelled to took on as the man she loves has thoughts only for a woman whose gifts are vastly inferior to her own. Braddon once declared that Wilkie Collins, the master of the Sensation novel, was "assuredly my literary father"; she herself has the same skill in weaving a story of mystery, conspiracy, menace and violence, white the energy and vivacity of her narrative are all her own.

Expertly edited with an introduction by Norman Page and Toru Sasaki, this is the only edition available of this work that deserves its place alongside Braddon's great works.