Publisher's Synopsis
After his father's remarriage, young and naive Arthur Mervyn is forced to leave his father's farm and make his own living in the city (Philadelphia). Once there, he runs into alot of bad luck, mainly having to do with the con man Thomas Welbeck. Mervyn, with the help of some good people he meets in the city, tries to right the wrongs done by Welbeck, while trying to better his own education and employment. There are alot of characters in this novel, and I struggled to keep them all straight. (Making a list helps.) The plot is sometimes told by relating other people's stories and then returning to the main narration. This, too, can be confusing to follow. Despite these challenges, the book was always an interesting and compelling read
