"Country vicar Dr. Primrose has a good heart, a good family and a good income, but suddenly, his idyllic life is cruelly devastated by a series of misfortunes. Despite all the calamity, however, he never loses sight of Christian morality, and this eventually brings him justice and the restoration of his family and fortune. Through this simple, almost fairy-tale plot, Goldsmith gives us a charming comedy; not a novel of sentiment, but an artful send-up of many of the familiar literary conventions of his day."