The Heir of Redclyffe was the novel which established Charlotte M. Yonge as one of the most popular and successful Victorian novelists. In the engaging and impulsive Guy Morville, Yonge created a hero who inspired William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti; his qualities of self-sacrifice touched a chord with generations of female readers.

Deeply influenced by the Oxford Movement's quest to recharge England's spiritual life, The Heir of Redclyffe is a surpassingly lively and unpreachy novel which gives us a vivid picture of nineteenth century domestic life and a clearer understanding of Victorian sentiment.