 While he did not show any conspicuous parliamentary ability, he was made a great success by his novel "Piccadilly" (1870).He then fell under the influence of the spiritualist prophet Thomas Lake Harris, who, in about 1861, had organised a small community, the Brotherhood of the New Life, which was settled in Brocton, New York, on Lake Erie, and he subsequently moved to Santa Rosa, California.After having been refused permission to join Harris in 1867, he was eventually allowed to join his community, and Oliphant caused a scandal by leaving Parliament in 1868 to follow Harris to Brocton.