This book is the story of a young orphan boy, Ormond and is the story of his coming of age. Written in 1817 by female author Maria Edgeworth this book has a bit of flavor of Austen only with a male hero instead of females and lots of comedy of manners, a bit of moralizing, and a romance. It was an easy read.

Set in Ireland, The Black Islands, England, Paris. The time period is set in the 1700's during Louis the Fifteenth and Madame du Barry, just before the reign of terror. Here we see the court behaviors and distaste for the common people. We also see the rent between Protestant and Catholic in Ireland with the debate of whether a Catholic boy can sit on the same school bench with a Protestant student. ( )