Mr. Rowl is an historical romance novel set in England during the Napoleonic Wars, following the fortunes of a captured Napoleon's soldier throughout the time of his captivation in England. Captain Raoul des Sablières is a French prisoner of war who is unjustly sent to the Plymouth hulks (Prison ship). He escapes and is befriended by a Royal Navy captain, Hervey Barrington, who tries to help him reunite with the young Englishwoman he loves, and with his repatriation to France.