When Nicholas Harbourne unexpectedly inherited the Harbourne baronetcy and fortune he decided to stay incognito among his tenants to discover how they lived—and so met the lovely Joanne, who was valiantly running her farm under difficulties not of her own making.

As the story progresses we meet Aunt Jemima and little Priscilla, who take Nicholas to their hearts for the man he is; the dissolute Lord Wolverton, who hates him for the same reason and is trying to blackmail Joanne into marriage; Bill the carter; George the ploughman; Joe the cowman and the other characters who live in the Sussex that Jeffery Farnol loves.

The Glad Summer is set in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign when life moved more slowly, but the main desire in people's hearts was the same as it is today—to live fully and in peace and happiness.