Near a canal

Charles Latimer is witness to the murder of a stranger who is helping the poor. When hundreds of people gather to mourn her death, he decides to give up his job working for a successful publisher, and begin a search for a world he never knew existed among the poor of London. Sleeping on a bench beside the canal, Charles begins a new life as a journalist writing about the artists and poets he meets, and the remarkable lives they lead. Charles discovers romance and wonderful friends and publishes their work to undreamed of acclaim.