This early novel opens in a village on the Scottish Border. Menie (Marion) Laurie lives quietly with her mother, Mrs Laurie of Burnside. Menie is engaged to a gifted young writer, Randall Home, who has gone to London to "seek his fortune". In her happy thoughts, Menie has idealized Randall, forgetting his tendency to be insensitive, even supercilious.
Menie has her own gift - she is an artist, though it is yet to be seen whether "a young lady's accomplishment" will ever become something more.
When they all meet again, Randall and her mother grow to dislike each other, creating conflict for Menie - "love against love, and her own heart the battleground." This novel follows Menie through unforeseen experiences and challenges, and resolves the question of whether the couple's love will remain strong enough for a future together.
Biographical and other notes
Margaret Oliphant writes in her Autobiography that after her marriage, her own mother and husband became intensely antagonistic to each other, and remained so until the death of her mother.
British publishing information
Periodical: Blackwood's Magazine Dec 1853 - May 1854
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