The story begins with, Lord Colambre, the sensitive hero of the novel, who just before coming of age, finds that his mother Lady Clonbrony's attempts to buy her way into the high society of London are only ridiculed, while his father, Lord ...

It satirises Anglo-Irish landlords at a time when the English and Irish governments were trying to formalise their union. The novel is alluded to in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'.

Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

His ensuing adventures take him from rural Ireland to fashionable Parisian society, where his good intentions in the areas of books, love and money are thoroughly tested." --Book jacket of 2000 ed.

The second series of 'Tales of Fashionable Life' (1812) did so well that she was now the most commercially successful novelist of her age.