Although most famous for his sci-fi, Wells best work often deals with ordinary people having big thoughts in picturesque settings. The Passionate Friends is a fine representative example of this. Wells uses the changing relationships among childhood friends as the media for his thoughts on human relations on personal and global scales, and of what it all means. On the death of his father, Stephen Stratton writes a long and deeply personal letter to his son, hoping that, as his son becomes a man, he can benefit from Stephens experience and wisdom. As Stephen sets down his lifes history, he tells the remarkable story of his former lover, Lady Mary. With a lust for freedom and a fierce desire not to be owned by a man, she is a woman living ahead of her time until marriage threatens to ruin her. First published in 1913, The Passionate Friends is an inspiring love story between father and son, and man and woman.