The Story of Charles Strange: A Novel. Vol. 1 (of 3)

A first-person narrator recounts his upbringing in a country rectory, his mother's frailty, and the shifting fortunes and marriages among relatives and guardians that shape his youth. The narrative moves from domestic scenes and schooling to social circles in London, introducing figures whose ambitions and entanglements lead to legal peril and scandal, including a trial at the Old Bailey, and to restorative episodes abroad by a vine-covered cottage in Italy. Through episodic chapters the story traces secrets, strained relationships, moral complications, and the slow unravelling of a mystery that affects the narrator's reputation and prospects.