Edward Conolly, a self-made electrical engineer of steady brilliance, meets Marian Lind, the cultured daughter of a gentleman, at a charity concert, and they marry across the class line. Shaw follows the strains of their union and sets it beside the rackety affair of her cousin Marmaduke with Conolly’s sister, a burlesque actress, asking what the marriage tie is worth when the people inside it change.
Written in 1880 and rejected by every publisher, Shaw’s second novel already shows the playwright’s wit. Download the free EPUB.