It was the writer's first novel, published 22 years before Dracula and serialized in five installments in The Shamrock, a weekly Irish magazine, from February 6, 1875, to March 6, 1875.
Jerry O'Sullivan, honest Dublin theatrical carpenter, moves to London, seeking a better job.
Against the better judgement of the people surrounding him, Jerry decides to go to the metropolis with his faithful wife Katey.
O'Sullivan is hired as head carpenter in a squalid theatre in London, but after several misfortunes he is strongly tempted by and eventually brought down by alcohol.
Unjustly suspecting his wife of infidelity, he murders her with a hammer and then cuts his throat with a chisel.