Unlike his usual style, this is a novel of conscience, without much melodrama; Collins weaves a story of what he delicately calls "sexual frailty." Trapped in an adulterous union, neither of two involved are happy in it. The husband has been divorced by his wife, and she has sole custody of their child. Now she is being courted by another man, and has almost decided to marry him.

Not surprisingly, it was commercially most profitable, while inviting the disapprobation of Victorian society for its themes of adultery, divorce, custodial battles and women's rights.