A novel narrated by George Ponderevo, who grows up in a great country house where his mother is housekeeper, then goes to London to help his uncle launch a patent medicine called Tono-Bungay. The product is of little real worth, yet clever advertising makes it a sensation and brings sudden wealth. Through George's story Wells portrays the restlessness, class tensions and commercial hype of Edwardian England. It is a lively, critical portrait of a society built on appearances.