Cecilia is a novel following the history of Cecilia Beverley, an orphaned heiress who will inherit three thousand pounds a year once she reaches the age of twenty-one, in addition to a personal fortune of ten thousand pounds. This inheritance is solely dependent on whether or not her future husband adopts the name of Beverley. The events of the novel take place in the eight months before Cecilia comes of age and is able to take up a house of her own.
