The play was controversial when first performed in 1912, for it was part of a growing reaction against the legacy of Victorian morality. Houghton was a member of the 'Manchester School of Drama', noted for its realism, and he was much influenced by Henrik Ibsen.

The Royal Exchange Theatre chose to stage Stanley Houghton's 1912 play when they re-opened in 1988.

It was a justified gesture of pride in the Ashton-on-Mersey Playwright.

Controversial in its day, the story centers on the Lancashire mill industry and Fanny Hawthorn, a weaver, who spends an illicit weekend with her employer’s son, telling her parents she is with a friend. When the truth is discovered, both sets of parents agree that he must marry her, the twist being that she has no intention of marrying him and saw the weekend as just for fun. The play received excellent reviews, but its ending was considered so immoral that it caused outrage in many circles. A huge number of column inches in the newspapers were taken up with the argument.