The Ashbys are English landowners dedicated to horse breeding. They have always lived in the small town of Clare and guided a peaceful quiet life led by Aunt Bee, who takes care of her four nephews after the death of her brother and daughter-in-law. The grief over the loss of the parents and the disappearance of a twin nephew under strange circumstances seem already overcome by the years and days of harmonious family life.
But just a week before Simon's coming-of-age party, one of the nephews, the Ashbys’ world turns upside down. A stranger named Brat Farrar arrives in town claiming to be Patrick, the missing twin. Patrick, older by a few minutes than Simon, would become the universal heir of the Ashby fortune. The twist is well executed because we know from the beginning that Brat Farrar is an impostor guided by someone close to the Ashbys.
It is a well written novel and it successfully portrays the psychologies of the characters. Also, the plot is very clever.