A baby, Edward, survives a shipwreck and is adopted by the Dickens family. His childhood is shown in the first volume; in the second, he enters London society, guided by a doctor who provides information and satirical commentary. There is a subplot about usurpation, involving Edward's true father; in the end, Edward is restored to his inheritance and marries one of the Dickens daughters.

Its popularity owed a great deal to its depictions of upper-class wealthy life. In particular, one of the characters, the confused and continually-defrauded