From 1879 to 1883, before he turned to writing plays, Shaw wrote five novels.This reissue makes available one of the early works of George Bernard Shaw: a galloping, witty novel with a wealth of pertinent things to say about the creaking class system and mens and womens attempts to find a human and interesting way to live together. The book was written in 1883 and later revised by Shaw for inclusion in the 1932 Standard Edition, from which the present text is taken.