In his day Thomas Miller (1807-74) was compared to Dickens. His novel Gideon Giles (1841) - featuring the immensely likeable ale-drinker Ben Brust - was extremely popular. His depiction of his early life in the river port of Gainsborough Our Old Town (1857) won admirers for its charm and gentle humour. Novels, verses and - his speciality - depictions of rural life flowed from Miller's pen. He never stopped writing. Yet he struggled to...