Flora de Barral is left to fend for herself at age fifteen, after her father is imprisoned. Conrad uses her consequent struggles to find a place in the world and deal with the moral hypocrisy that surrounds her as a basis to explore her psychological transformation from naive and tragic young woman to a person of confidence and self-respect. Conrad's books often reflect his exploration of the issues of character and personal development, and this work is a good example of this bias. Ambitious in both writing and plot, it is a condemnation of the inherent unfairness of the moral posturings of his time.