Catherine is the only daughter of simple country folk. Her father is the largest ironmonger in a small town. Catherine has feelings for the local minister who is already married.
The writing is rather too much driven by ideas rather than characters for me, even if I find the ideas he explores to be engaging, some of the characters even border on caricature. Still, a fascinating insight into life in a provincial mid Victorian town, full of details of how people lived, and a insightful exploration of what it means to be a Christian.