The Sorrows of Satan

Geoffrey Tempest a penniless, starving author so poor that he is behind on his rent and can barely afford light in his room. One day he receives three letters. The first is from a friend in Australia who has made his fortune and offers to introduce him to a good friend who might be able to lift him from poverty. The second is a note from a solicitor detailing that he has inherited a fortune from a deceased relative. The third is a letter of introduction from a foreign aristocrat called Lucio, who befriends him and proceeds to be his guide in how best to use his newfound wealth. Tempest remains blissfully unaware, despite warnings from people he meets, that Lucio is the earthly incarnation of the Devil.

Marie Corelli (1855-1924) was an English novelist and mystic. She enjoyed a period of great literary success from the publication of her first novel in 1886 until World War I. Sales of Corelli's novels exceeded the combined sales of popular contemporaries, including Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, and Rudyard Kipling. A recurring theme in Corelli's books is her attempt to reconcile Christianity with reincarnation, astral projection, and other mystical ideas.