The Bondman (1890) is a novel written by British author Hall Caine. Inspired by the epic scale of the ancient Icelandic sagas as well as the Biblical tale of Jacob and Esau, Caine sought to explore the narrative possibilities of brotherhood and fate while paying homage to the historical link between Iceland and the Isle of Man. Born to a Manx father, Caine also had a personal connection to the novel’s setting.
The story shifts between the perspectives of Jason and Michael, two half-brothers abandoned by their father, the Icelandic fisherman Stephen Orry. When Michael, who is raised by the Deputy Governor of the Isle of Man, comes of age, his estranged father sends him to Iceland in order to rectify Stephen’s mistreatment of his Icelandic wife and son. At the same time, Jason journeys to the Isle of Man in order to seek revenge on his father, only to be forced to rescue Stephen from a shipwreck off of Maughold Head, a dangerous point on the easternmost shore of the Isle of Man. While Jason weighs the cost of forgiveness and falls in love with Greeba, his half-brother Michael rises to power in a newly independent Iceland. As the story unfolds, and as fate draws the story’s heroes closer together, The Bondman explores some of humanity’s eternal themes: love, faith, kinship, and sacrifice. Caine’s novel is epic in terms of its setting and political context, but it explores matters of the heart as though they were our own.
Hall Caine’s The Bondman is a work about ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances, and remains, over a century after it was published, an essential piece of English literature. Although he was one of the most famous and acclaimed authors of his time, Caine’s work remains relatively unknown today. With this edition, it is hoped that Hall Caine once again receives not only the attention he deserves, but the respect and admiration his work demands.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Hall Caine’s The Bondman is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
