The Sorrows of Satan

Or, the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire

De: Marie Corelli

Narrado por: Stefan Rudnicki

The Devil arrives in fin de siècle London.

The setting is London, 1895, and the Devil is on the loose, in the guise of the handsome and charming Prince Lucio Rimânez. He is searching for someone morally strong enough to resist temptation, but there seems little chance he will succeed. Britain is all but totally corrupt. The aristocracy is financially and spiritually bankrupt, church leaders no longer believe in God, Victorian idealism has been banished from literature and life, and sexual morality is being undermined by the pernicious doctrines of the “New Woman”.

Lucio sets his sights on Geoffrey Tempest, a starving novelist who has just inherited a fortune, and promises to show Geoffrey how best to invest his newfound wealth. As the tragic story of Geoffrey’s meteoric rise and fall unfolds, Marie Corelli exposes the hypocrisy and immorality of modern life in this Faustian novel and best seller of its time.

Note: This title was originally published in 1895.

Public Domain (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

very good audio performance

the book is excellent and the audio took nothing away from the depth and emotions portrayed in the book

Well done from the first word to the last

A faustian tale superbly written from beginning to end. Add in the utter perfection of Stefan Rudnicki's narration and you will not be disappointed. Exceptional.

Getting all you desire

Marie Corelli’s The Sorrows of Satan is a late 19th century novel regarded as one of the first best-sellers. It follows a struggling, starving writer who inherits a vast fortune and is befriended by a gentleman, named Lucio, who proceeds to assist him in establishing himself among the 1% of the day. Lucio arranges for his marriage, launching a successful writing career, and finding suitable living arrangements. In all cases, Lucio manages to give him his true desires, but in the end, his life is made miserable. At the same time, there are constant allusions to Lucio being an incarnation of the devil. In the end, he returns to a simpler, happier life.

Corelli manages to excoriate the inherent corruption of the publishing industry as well as the English class system. Perhaps not surprisingly, Lucio seems most well-informed regarding morality coming off as if someone seeking redemption by helping others while that help ends up backfiring. In many respects, she was decades ahead of her time in terms of themes and concepts peppered throughout the book.

The narration is superb with excellent character distinction and smooth pacing.