John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English novelist and playwright. "The Island Pharisees" takes a critical look beneath the gilded veneer of Edwardian England. Dick Shelton is engaged to Antonia Dennant and his privileged middle-class life seems complete until he meets Ferrand, an enigmatic young vagrant, who begins to shake his complacency and open his eyes to the selfishness and hypocrisy of London society.