Description:  The narrator of this book is asked by his wife to tell their children the tale of how he once bought A Flat Iron for a Farthing, and he does so, along the way recounting his motherless childhood in the countryside, education and upbringing at the hands of the steadfast Nurse Bundle, friendship with the neighborhood Rector, boundless love for his red and white spaniel Rubens, and antics with his five female cousins from London. These musings on youth are at once poignant and humorous, and show their owner to possess an inquisitive mind and sympathetic spirit. The reader also comes to learn that, despite the seeming insignificance of a flat iron, it is an object that may hold far more meaning than one might at first have guessed.

Additional information:

1. Motherless
2. Wants Satisfied
3. A Shadow Looms
4. The Cloud Lifts
5. Companions in Town
6. The Circle of Acquaintances Expands
7. Charitable Endeavours
8. Visiting the Sick
9. "Peace Be to This House"
10. Recovery
11. A Notable Purchase
12. Return of the Little Ladies
13. A Visitor to Dacrefield
14. At the Rectory
15. The Prospect of a Tutor
16. Arrival of Mr. Gray

17. Lessons of All Kinds
18. Another Friend of My Father
19. The Tutor Arrives
20. A Holiday Trip
21. Return to Oakford
22. A Calling for Nurse Bundle
23. My Time at Eton
24. A Bit of Life in the Place
25. Last Times
26. An Unwelcome Letter
27. The Coming of the New Rector
28. Heartbroken
29. The Lady Damer That Is To Be
30. Confusion Abounds
31. Entanglements Sorted Out
32. Homecomings