Publisher's Synopsis
Young Phineas Finn, just admitted to the bar, is tempted to postpone his career as a barrister by an offer to run for election as a member of Parliament from the Irish borough of Loughshane. Phineas's father, a hardworking doctor, reluctantly agrees to support Phineas, as a member of Parliament receives no salary and can only hope that once his party is in power he will be rewarded with a lucrative office. Phineas is elected. Among those to whom he says good-bye before leaving for London is pretty Mary Flood Jones, a girl devoted to Phineas but no richer than he. Phineas's well-wishers in London include Lady Laura Standish, the daughter of Lord Brentford, an influential Whig. Phineas begins to fall in love with Laura and sees a rival in the aloof and unprepossessing but rich Mr. Kennedy, who is also a Whig and a member of Parliament. Laura tries to encourage a friendship between Phineas and her brother, Lord Chiltern, a violent young man who has quarreled with their father. Lord Brentford has made it clear that he will reconcile with his son if Chiltern marries rich, lovely, and witty Violet Effingham, a friend from childhood. Chiltern loves her deeply and has proposed repeatedly, but Violet is levelheaded and, although she is fond of Chiltern, does not intend to ruin herself deliberately.
