The Cloven Foot follows the fortunes of John Treverton, who is at a very low point in his life. He has squandered his small inheritance and has had to sell his commission as a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. Though he has been making a small amount of money from drawing comic sketches, he is feeling desperate and miserable when a telegram unexpectedly summons him to the death-bed of his wealthy uncle Jasper. The dying man tells him that he will will his estate to the younger man on one condition—that he marry Jasper’s adopted daughter Laura within twelve months. But events in Treverton’s past threaten this boon, and soon complications multiply.

The novel was generally well-received, with praise for Braddon’s deft handling of a complex plot. Sensational elements such as murder, mistaken identity, and bigamy feature prominently in The Cloven Foot , as they do in many of her novels; but an important new theme is that of fraud—a theme which has been identified as part of an increasing trend in the era’s sensation fiction towards featuring more white-collar crimes.

The Cloven Foot was initially published in serial form in the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle in 1878. It was subsequently published in three volumes in 1879. A stage play based on the novel, radically simplifying the plot, was performed in 1890.