Published in 1838, Alice, or The Mysteries picks up the story of the disenchanted poet-gone-politician-gone-recluse Ernest Maltravers, his early love Alice Darvil and his underhanded antagonist Lumley Ferrers. Whereas, after Florence Lascelles's death, Ernest has withdrawn from the world, everything seems to go well with Lumley, who has inherited the title of Lord Vargrave and started a political career. There is only the want of a fortune with which to further his social ambitions that keeps Lumley busy, and he is quite sure to lay hands on his late uncle's vast inheritance by marrying the latter's ward Evelyn, a marriage that has been wished for, but not commanded by his dying relative. However, Fate, at its most willful, again throws Ernest into Lumley's way for when Maltravers meets the gentle and charming heiress and falls in love with her, the girl's reservations against her long-time fiance Lumley begin to grow, and the cynical politician again begins to plot against his former friend. ...( Tristram Shandy)

About the Author:

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 1803 - 18 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies from June 1858 to June 1859, choosing Richard Clement Moody as founder of British Columbia. He declined the Crown of Greece in 1862 after King Otto abdicated. He was created Baron Lytton of Knebworth in 1866.

Bulwer-Lytton's works were well known in his time. He coined famous phrases like "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", "dweller on the threshold", "the great unwashed", and the opening phrase "It was a dark and stormy night." The sardonic Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, held annually since 1982, claims to seek the "opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels".

Bulwer-Lytton's literary career began in 1820 with the publication of a book of poems and spanned much of the 19th century. He wrote in a variety of genres, including historical fiction, mystery, romance, the occult and science fiction. He financed his extravagant way of life with a varied and prolific literary output, sometimes publishing anonymously.

Bulwer-Lytton was portrayed by the actor Brett Usher in the 1978 television serial Disraeli. (wikipedia.org)