Victor Stowell, a young man of fine nature, coming from a family with high traditions, commits a sin against a woman in circumstances of extreme temptation such as come to millions of young men in every generation. He conceals his sin, and his concealment leads to other and still other sins, until his whole life is wrapped up in falsehood, and even the little community in which he lives is in danger of being submerged in the consequences. In his sufferings he descends as into Hell, but at length he sees that there is only one salvation for himself, his victim and his people - confession and reparation. After he has confessed his secret sin and paid the penalty in renunciation, he is saved from spiritual death by the love of a noble-hearted woman who has inspired him to the act of atonement - so the climax of the story is the resurrection of his soul. The scene is literally the Isle of Man, and the period the late 19th century, but the one may be said to be all the world, and the other all time, for the subject is universal. Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (1853-1931) was an English best-selling author. His novels, some of which were set in the Isle of Man, sold by the millions, were made into plays and films, and were translated into many languages.