The plot of this novel is based upon the outcome of a protracted lawsuit between the once-wealthy Anglo-Irish aristocrat Peter Barrington and the British East India Company. At stake is the inheritance of Barrington's granddaughter, Josephine, whose claim is based on her father's having been made the heir of the Rajah of Luckerabad in Bengal. Once compared favorably to Dickens and extremely popular in the 1840's and 1850's, Charles Lever's reputation suffered increasing criticism in the late 19th century and he is not well known today, and is sometimes in fact referred to as "The Lost Victorian."