When his son married against his father's wishes, the old lord cut him off. The boy wasn't the heir, his older brother was and the brother had a son of his own. So the succession was safely out of the hands of the disobedient son and his wife from a working-class family.
Then the unexpected happened: the heir and his son died in a boating accident. And now the "weaver's brat" has come to the manor to claim his inheritance, much to the shock and outrage of the old lord and the rest of his family.
But the lord has a plan. He will whip his heir into shape by marrying him off to his granddaughter, much to the granddaughter's dismay and disgust.
Poor "Ajax" doesn't stand a chance . . .
The unknown Ajax is not the "weaver's brat" his newly-found relatives all imagine. Instead he is a man of substance and standing and with a very lively sense of humor. He quickly understands just how they all view him, as a barely-literate bumpkin, and he goes along with the misperception, just for the hell of it. Which makes for a fun and engaging read, one of the author's best novels, in my opinion. Which is why I have read the book many times throughout my life, starting from when I was a teen. The story still grabs me, even now.
The "unknown ajax" of the title and the verses quoted in the story are from the Shakespeare play, Troilus and Cressida.
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