Anthony Trollope was a prolific Victorian writer. Trollope's best-loved works were known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which center on the imaginary county of Basetshire. He wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts. Deception, guilt and redemption fill the pages of this novel. It is a tale dealing with the unconventional topic of homoerotic fantasy. Jones is a virtuous upstanding young man. He is traveling across the desert with a young male companion only to find out after a week of travel that the young man is really a woman.