The 14 Hall Caine Novels

A Brief Guide to their contents

THE BONDMAN –

This story is intended to show the futility of the spirit of revenge and that revenge belongs to God alone. Two sons, born in different countries of the same father by different mothers, set out to search for each other to avenge the wrongs they have suffered through their parents. When they meet, it is as fellow prisoners chained together in a penal colony where their identities are unknown (their names being hidden by numbers).The two become passionately devoted friends. Finally, one of the half-brothers gives his life for the life of the man he had come to kill and thus restores the other half-brother to the woman they both loved. The story unfolds primarily in Iceland during the recent past. It is a moving love story.

THE CHRISTIAN –

This is a story about a young Anglican clergyman, John Storm, who tries to live in the twentieth century in strict imitation of the life of Christ. He believes the strict interpretation to the teachings of Jesus is the only way to the salvation of the world. He is broken to pieces both from within and without by his love for a woman and by the realities of the modern world. The scene is London in the present. The heroine, Glory Quayle, joined many other famous women in fiction. At the time of its publication, it prompted much discussion. It was later turned into a successful play.

THE ETERNAL CITY –

This was by far the most popular of Hall Caine’s novels. The English editions sold well over a million copies and it was translated into a dozen languages. It was adapted as a screenplay in the 1930s and 100 years after its first publication in 1901, a cartoon version was published in Japanese for a religious sect numbering some 30 million. The story is intended to show that the morality required of individual men should govern nations as well. The story takes place in Rome and the Pope, resembling Pius IX, is a leading character. The story anticipated the communist and socialist movements that prevailed in Italy and across Europe. A socialist leader of high moral character and capability, David Rossi, attempts to implement the teachings of Mazzini, which he understands to be in accordance with the tenets of the Lord’s Prayer. At the zenith of his efforts, he is betrayed to the authorities by the woman he loves. She believes this to be the only way to save his life. The main interest of this powerful and highly emotional novel centers in the loves of these two remarkable people - David Rossi, a Tolstoyan Socialist of singularly noble character and Donna Valonna Roma, a woman of commanding beauty who has formed a liaison with the Italian Premier, but falls deeply in love with the agitator whom she sets out to captivate and lure to his doom. Under the influence of this passion she reveals the charm and devotion of a noble nature and in the face of many temptations rises to heroic heights. To save the life of her lover , she betrays him to the authorities and suffers his scorn and contempt. On her deathbed the purity of her motives is established and she dies in the arms of her husband. The story is told with great wealth of detail through many vigorous scenes as well as pages of highly wrought description of the religious and political life in late 19 th century Rome.

THE MANXMAN –

This novel is about two men who love each other. They are separated by the love they each have for a woman, Kate Cregeen. While married to one of the men, she is involved in tragic temptation and betrayed by the other. Out of this complication arise situations of searching pathos, culminating in a public confession and a great renunciation The entire story takes place in the Isle of Man. The deeply injured husband, Peter Quilliam, became a well loved character of period fiction. The novel was presented as a play and a film. A shortened version, called Pete, was also written by Hall Caine.

THE MASTER OF MAN –

This is a story of sin, suffering, and redemption. Victor Stowell, a youth of fine nature and belonging to a family of high tradition, commits a sin against a woman under circumstances of extreme temptation. The lesson learned is that “your sins will be found out” and there is a nemesis awaiting all transgressors of the moral laws. The novel’s climax comes with the resurrection of the young man’s soul. Again, this story takes place in the present on the Isle of Man.

THE PRODIGAL SON –

This is a story set in Iceland, like The Bondman, but totally different in spirit and treatment. It is a modern rendering of the biblical parable by the same name. There is a strong appeal for the elder brother and is intended to show that an evil act once committed cannot be undone. Part of the story unfolds on the French Riviera where the prodigal son wastes his substance. When he returns home he is not greeted by the “fatted calf” but rather by the wreckage of his misdeeds. The novel was dramatized for the Drury Lane Theater and translated into 8 languages.

THE SCAPEGOAT –

This is a story of a young and lonely girl, Naomi, who though born deaf, dumb, and blind recovers her senses one at a time under startling and exciting circumstances in the life of her father. She uncovers the beauty of her world through sight, sound and speech after her intelligence has matured. The story unfolds around early 20^th century life in Morocco (Tangiers and Fez). It has been said that the heroine strongly resembles Goethe’s famous character, Mignon.

THE WHITE PROPHET –

This is a story about Egypt and the Sudan with its principal scenes in Cairo and Khartoum around 1909. It anticipated the serious racial, political and religious problems to face these countries during the rest of the century and beyond. The central character resembles the Mahdi in his earlier years. At first he is a religious reformer but later develops political ambitions which places him in sharp contrast to the British rule. A tragic happening brings to his side the son of the British Consul General – a character that strongly resembles Lord Cromer in his policies. Out of this relationship and the character’s love for an English woman, Helena, the love story unfolds. Hall Caine rewrote the novel in play form, titled The Mahdi.

THE WOMAN THOU GAVEST ME –

This is a story intended to illustrate the place a woman has held in relation to man as assigned by law, custom and even religion.Mary O’Neill, a devout catholic, is reared in a convent in Rome and then married to a dissolute man of high rank before interest in sex has awakened in her. Upon realizing her situation, she rebels, refusing herself to her husband, but continues to live under his roof to avoid a scandal. Eventually she falls in love with a much worthier man. Her feelings of loving anyone other than her husband to be a sin and her church not allowing her to seek happiness through a divorce drive the story toward its climax. Her love prevails and a child is born after fleeing the house where she is a wife in name only. She is forced to endure the struggle with an unwanted child but in the end she gains her salvation without violating any laws of either Church or State.

The Deemster

The Shadow of a Crime

The Woman of Knockaloe

She’s All The World To Me

A Son Of Hagar