First published in 1911, this memoir by Jane Ellen Panton (1847-1923) recounts her friendship with the artist Basil Hodges and its influence on her life. She recalls the places and characters she encountered through knowing this 'underdog', as she supported him through the various trials of his life.

Jane Ellen Panton (1847-1923) was the second daughter of the artist William Powell Frith, and an expert on domestic issues. First published in 1911, this is a further collection of her memoirs, following her earlier autobiography Leaves from a Life (also reissued in this series). The focus of this book is her close friend Basil Hodges and his great influence on her life. She describes Hodges, an artist she met in her childhood, as an 'underdog' whom she set out to help, and went on to support him through difficulties in his marriage and career, accompanying him on his travels. Her friendship with Hodges led her to travel abroad and meet a range of colourful characters, all recounted here in vivid and often humorous detail. Offering reflections on life in England and France in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this book has much to offer social historians.