The book consists of four volumes containing coming of age novels set in the Midlands of Victorian England. The story follows Edwin Clayhanger as he leaves school, takes over the family business, and falls in love. The second novel Hilda Lessways tells the story from her coming of age, her working experiences as a shorthand clerk and keeper of a lodging house in London and Brighton. These Twain, the third in the Clayhanger series, chronicles the married...

These Twain (1916) is the third novel in the Clayhanger series. Edwin Clayhanger, having saved Hilda from destitution by marrying her, must now not only accept her son by a former lover, but also her outspokenness. Bennett's title for this novel suggests the complexity of how Hilda and Edwin attempt to compromise their divergent attitudes for the sake of their marriage.