"Handsome Harry Ormond has been brought up, with a mixture of indulgence and neglect, by corrupt Anglo-Irish politician Sir Ulick O'Shane... When his hot temper involves him in a near-fatal shooting, Harry is sent into the care of Sir Ulick's eccentric cousin, King Corny. Forced to reflect on his situation as a young man with neither property nor fortune, Harry resolves in future to be what he admires and 'shine forth an Irish Tom Jones'. His ensuing adventures take him from rural Ireland to fashionable Parisian society, where his good intentions in the areas of books, love and money are thoroughly tested." --Book jacket of 2000 ed.