Entertaining Strangers

Sarah Eldridge, a beer-brewing tradeswoman, embodies the free-thinking, bustling spirit of a community beginning to reap the rewards of the Industrial Revolution. The rise to commercial eminence runs parallel to the'story of Reverend Henry Moule, a hardline fundamentalist, who believes brewing to be a sinful trade. During the Dorchester chorlera epidemic moule, spiritually intolerant, proves socially altruistic, while self-interest keeps Sarah away from helping the infectious sick.