This is one of the most fascinating character studies you will ever read, the story of a young man who survives the baleful influence of a hateful, hypocritical father, a doting mother, and a debauched wife, to emerge as a decent, happy human being. It is also a stinging satire of Victorian gentry - their pomposity, sentimentality, pseudo-respectability, and refined cruelty - a satire still capable of delivering death-blows to the same traits that exist in our present world.