The Sorrows of Satanor, the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire: A Romance
1899
In 1895 London, starving writer Geoffrey Tempest inherits five million pounds and catches the attention of Prince Lucio Rimanez, a dangerously charming aristocrat who may or may not be the Devil himself. What follows is a Faustian bargain dressed in Victorian finery: the newly rich Geoffrey must navigate a society where everything is for sale, from political favors to sexual favors, and prove that one honest man can resist the corruption all around him. Marie Corelli's scandalous bestseller sold over 100,000 copies in weeks, sparked moral outrage across Britain, and earned praise from Oscar Wilde even as critics dismissed it as prose melodrama. The novel works as both supernatural thriller and sharp satire of fin de siècle Britain, where the aristocracy is bankrupt in more ways than one, the church has lost its faith, and the New Woman threatens everything Victorian respectability holds dear. It's a wild, sprawling, sometimes ridiculous read that knows exactly what it is: a pulp masterpiece about whether money can buy your soul, and what happens when the Devil makes you rich.
