This novel has a historical significance transcending the insights into the past that we gain from it. The author first published it in 1934. In 1936, as a member of the British Parliament he introduced a divorce law reform bill which became the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1937. The book was written to highlight the absurdities of existing divorce laws in preparation for reform. It succeeded marvellously.

A.P. Herbert is best know to the world for his Misleading Cases series of books, an hilarious lampooning of the British legal system through fictional court cases. Ten volumes of these were written between 1928 and 1966. They are well worth reading.