The Secret Power

Corelli, Marie, 1855-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 522K words
Chapters: 53

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Secret Power by Marie CorelliAuthor: Corelli, Marie, 1855-1924,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2003

Editor's review

The Secret Power is a late novel by Marie Corelli that continues her familiar themes of mysterious forces and emotional entanglement, with a pronounced flavor of popular romance. Corelli had a wide readership in the early twentieth century, and her works often appeal through stark moral contrasts, dramatic scenes, and an interest in the supernatural. The book suits readers interested in late Victorian to Edwardian popular literature and serves as a sample of the popular reading tastes of the time. The style is rather ornate, the pacing slow, and the characterization bears clear marks of its era. It is best read within the context of popular fiction history, with attention to how it imagines science, faith, and emotional power. As a public-domain ebook, it is easily accessible and suitable as supplementary reading for literary history or comparative reading, though one should not expect modern psychological depth or narrative innovation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century British popular fiction
Enthusiasts studying late Victorian to Edwardian popular literature
Readers who enjoy stories blending mystery with emotional romance
Literature students seeking to expand their reading of English-language originals

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern fast-paced narrative and concise style
Those with low tolerance for ornate diction and melodramatic plotting
Readers expecting rigorous science fiction or hard supernatural explanation

Reading tips

Learn about the popular literature background of Corelli's era before starting the text; it makes her method easier to understand.
Note how the book describes mysterious forces and compare it with other writers of the same period.
If the pacing feels slow, read chapter by chapter and briefly note plot and characters after each.
Read alongside literary history materials and treat the book as a case study in the reading tastes of its time.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book science fiction?

It is not easily classified as science fiction. It is closer to a popular romance with mysterious elements, in which the imagination of unknown forces serves emotional and moral themes rather than rigorous scientific speculation. Readers applying hard science fiction standards may be disappointed.

Was Marie Corelli famous in her time?

Corelli was a highly bestselling popular novelist in early twentieth-century Britain with a broad readership. Her works often sparked discussion and sold considerably well in their day. Her literary standing in later evaluation is not especially high, however, and she is regarded more as an object of study in popular literary history.

How difficult is the original English text?

Moderately to fairly difficult. Corelli's style is ornate, with many long sentences and decorative expressions, and the vocabulary demands more than ordinary popular fiction. A solid English reading foundation is advisable before attempting the original, or one may first read a Chinese translation for the plot and then return to the original for its language.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Corelli, Marie, 1855-1924 Author

Marie Corelli (1855–1924) was a British popular novelist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; her real name and biographical details remain difficult to establish because public sources are limited. The library holds fourteen of her works, including A Romance of Two Worlds, The Sorrows of Satan, Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self, The Secret Power, Thelma, Ziska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul, The Treasure of Heaven, and Innocent: Her Fancy and His Fact. Her fiction often uses romance as a framework while incorporating mysticism, the supernatural, religious fantasy, and moral allegory, with elaborate plotting and bold imagination. She was widely read in the late Victorian period, and her work had some influence on popular fantasy fiction, though critical assessments of her writing have long been mixed.