Billed as a satire concerning the dishonest advertising and business practices of the day, it tells the tale of an upstart clothing business doomed from the get-go to utter failure. Its senior partner is far too timid for business. His son-in-law is stealing from the till, and the junior partner, Robinson is so obsessed with the idea that advertising alone will drive the business, he uses up every last penny of the capital investment in a series of increasingly ludicrous ad campaigns and publicity stunts. Thrown into this mix are the two daughters of Brown, who are equally cold and calculating. The elder is constantly trying to wring money out of the old man, and the younger, Maryanne, spends the entire novel playing off of two potential suitors, Robinson, or Brisket the butcher . Nevertheless, Trollope shows considerable sympathy for the risks faced by small businessmen ; Robinson is to publish his experiences in the Cornhill Magazine, a prominent journal for over 100 years, in which many Victorians serialized novels . In the final chapter there is a surprising ennoblement of Robinson, and a very positive ending
