Margaret Oliphant is one of the great Victorian novelists and &quot;Hester&quot; is a masterpiece of psychological realism published in 1883.&nbsp;<br />In exploring the difficulty of understanding human nature, it is also a compulsive story of financial and sexual risk-taking that inevitably results in a searing climax.<br /><br />&quot;Hester&quot; tells the story of the ageing but powerful Catherine Vernon, and her conflict with the young and determined Hester, whose growing attachment to Edward, Catherine&#39;s favourite, spells disaster for all concerned.<br /><br />Catherine Vernon, jilted in her youth, has risen to power in a man&#39;s world as head of the family bank. She thinks she sees through everyone and rules over a family of dependants with knowing cynicism. But there are two people in Redborough who resist her. One is Hester, a young relation with a personality as strong as Catherine&#39;s, and as determined to find a role for herself. The other is Edward, who Catherine treats like a son. Conflict between the young and the old is inevitable, and in its depiction of the complex relationships that develop between the three principal characters.