Set in the town of Woodhouse, the novel follows the commercial dreamer James Houghton and his daughter Alvina. Within a class-conscious community, Alvina's movement toward the outside world unfolds as a story of desire, love, and the search for freedom.

The opening moves from James Houghton's commercial fantasies to the shape of Alvina's life.

George Macaulay Trevelyan's biography of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, follows the political path that led to the Reform Act of 1832. It combines a vivid portrait of Grey with a broad account of British parliamentary reform.

A biography that reads the politics leading to reform through the life of Earl Grey.