Ormond (Penguin Classics)

An orphan, handsome Harry Ormond has been raised, with a mixture of indulgence and neglect, by the corrupt, hard-drinking Anglo-Irish politician, Sir Ulick O'Shane. When Ormond's hot temper involves him in a near-fatal shooting, he is sent away to live with King Corny, his guardian's kind-hearted, eccentric cousin. Possessing neither property nor fortune, Ormond is determined to make his way in the world like an Irish Tom Jones. Blending issues of moral development with questions about the shape of Ireland's political future, Maria Edgeworth emphasizes the importance of education and upbringing, as opposed to inheritance and lineage, in her tale of Harry Ormond.