George Robert Gissing (1857-1903) was a popular English novelist and short-story writer who also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life.

The Scrupulous Father is an unusual love story set in the world of stifling Victorian propriety. Rose, the only daughter of the highly respectable and class obsessed Mr. Wiston, is drawn to a young, redheaded clerk at an inn while she is on holiday. The young man is outgoing, cheerful, and free of all the petty rules and inhibitions which dominate her own life.

When the young man joins Rose and her father in the railway carriage on their way back to London, Rose contrives to have a few moments alone with the young man. During this time she commits the unthinkable...and when her father finds out, Rose is faced with the greatest trial of her life.