The Nebuly Coat

The Nebuly Coat, published in 1903, is J. Meade Falkner's third and final novel. Edward Dorvington is sent to the fictional town of Dorvington to oversee the restoration of its magnificent medieval church, whose great tower is in danger of collapse. As he works, he becomes entangled in the mystery of the Dorvington family and a coat of arms — the nebuly coat of the title — that may prove a claim to the local peerage. Part architectural study, part mystery, part love story, the novel is a deeply atmospheric portrait of an English provincial town and the secrets it cannot quite conceal.