Book description
Young, impoverished and ambitious, science student Mr Lewisham is
locked in a struggle to further himself through academic achievement.
But when his former sweetheart, Ethel Henderson, re-enters his life his
strictly regimented existence is thrown into chaos by the resurgence of
old passion. Driven by overwhelming desire, he pursues Ethel
passionately, only to find that while she returns his love she also
hides a dark secret. For she is involved in a plot of trickery that goes
against his firmest beliefs, working as an assistant to her stepfather -
a cynical charlatan 'mystic' who earns his living by deluding the
weak-willed with sly trickery.
H. G. Wells was a professional writer and journalist, who published
more than a hundred books, including novels, histories, essays and
programmes for world regeneration. Wells's prophetic imagination was
first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he
became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. His
controversial views on sexual equality and the shape of a truly
developed nation remain directly relevant to our world today. He was,
in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'.
Gillian Beer is a famed writer and critic. She is Emeritus Professor
at Girton College, Cambridge.
Simon J. James is Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University
of Durham. He has written on, and edited works by, George Gissing and
H. G. Wells.
