John Stratton is a shell-shocked World War I veteran who comes back home from the battlefields with mental health issues, and the moment of provoked insanity causes him to spend some time in jail after almost killing a man. He tries to return to normal life, but can't deal with the hustle of city life and settle into normal society. At the advice of the doctor John moves to a farm out of town, hoping that hard work will help banish his demons. John starts making progress in this secret sanctuary. He meets a nearby farmer and his wife, and he befriends their daughter Jess, but his peace is disturbed by a woman who threatens to disrupt his healing and recovery. John has to face a big challenge in order to keep his sanity and new life.

Warwick Deeping 's work is dominated by historical novels, while his later novels more usually dealt with modern life, and were critical of many tendencies of twentieth-century civilization. Deeping's novels often deal with controversial issues such as social work and medicine in the slums, gender ambiguity, alcoholism, and women abuse.