(Paperback)

A semi-autobiographical novel examines the complex relationships that exist in the Pontifex family as they reflect the hypocrisy of middle-class life in Victorian England.

(Paperback)

Throws a subversive brick at the smug face of Victorian domesticity. Published in 1903, a year after Butler's death, this novel is a thinly disguised account of his own childhood and youth 'in the bosom of a Christian family'.

(Hardback)

Ernest Pontifex, son of a bullying clergyman, leads a life of disarray. Ernest struggles with orthodoxy, lives in the slums, is thrown into prison, and marries the vulgar Ellen. Saved by the discovery that Ellen is already married, Ernest receives an inheritance, and is able to devote his life to literature, finally winning some success.