Recounting the protagonist's troubled life, this tale tells the story of Reuben Daniels, reared in a South Wales industrial valley in the bosom of the Nonconformist culture. Therein lies his downfall and that of his people in this chronicle of utter oppostition to Welsh Nonconformity. Throughout the account, Revivalist passions create a perverse outlet for an all-too-human sexuality that chapel culture has otherwise repressed. Nonconformity ultimately withers the root of natural sexual well-being in the Welsh and then feeds off the twisted fruits.