A girl born with a deformed shoulder is raised to believe she will never be loved, and becomes a painter instead. Craik wrote about disability without pity or miracle - the shoulder is not cured at the end - which in 1850 was almost unheard of. This edition adds 55 plates of painting bound with the book, among them works by Joseph Wright of Derby, David Wilkie and Alexander Nasmyth, plus five illustrations restored and coloured.