Tongues of Conscience

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

25986

Title

Tongues of Conscience

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Set in a bleak northern isle, Robert Hichens' *Tongues of Conscience* explores the intersection of faith, art, and human despair. Through interconnected tales of a grieving clergyman, a haunted painter, and a mother's obsession with a dead beggar, the novel examines how the sea and darkness strip away social pretenses to reveal raw, often tragic, truths about the human soul.

Summary up to 500 words

Robert Hichens' *Tongues of Conscience* is a collection of short stories that explores the haunting power of memory, the burden of guilt, and the unsettling nature of the subconscious. The volume opens with "Sea Change," set on a windswept northern isle. Reverend Peter Uniacke, a young clergyman, finds solace in the nightly sounds of the sea, but his quiet life is disrupted by the arrival of Sir Graham Hamilton, a world-famous yet melancholy sea painter fleeing London. Hamilton seeks refuge from a lost love and failing health, finding a strange kinship with Uniacke in their shared isolation. Their conversations reveal the heavy weight of fame and the cruel, unpredictable nature of fate, as both men grapple with the oppressive atmosphere of the island and the ghosts of their pasts. The narrative then shifts to a domestic tragedy involving Catherine and her husband, Mark Sirrett. Catherine discovers a manuscript Mark intends to destroy, a work he considers his soul. Despite her horror at the book's evil content, she reads it and becomes enthralled, unable to stop. When Mark returns and discovers her reading his forbidden book, a confrontation ensues. In a fit of passion and misunderstanding, he strikes her, and she resolves to destroy the manuscript. Shortly after, Mark dies of poison. Catherine is left to grapple with the guilt of his death and the strange, hypnotic influence of the book she read, questioning whether her curiosity led to his demise. The final story, "The Cry of the Child," introduces Maurice Dale, a young, melancholy doctor in the seaside town of Brayfield. His somber demeanor unsettles the locals, who speculate about his mysterious past. The story takes a darker turn when Maurice hears a mysterious, painful cry emanating from his own house. He investigates and eventually realizes the cry belongs to a child who has died, a revelation that haunts him deeply. The collection concludes with the story of Horace Errington and his mother, Mrs. Errington, who become obsessed with a beggar they refused charity to. After the beggar drowns himself in the Serpentine, Mrs. Errington becomes convinced he is still alive and insists on searching for him daily. Horace is terrified by his mother's delusion and the horror of the situation. The story ends with Mrs. Errington's sudden death and the revelation of a surprising will, leaving the nature of her madness and the beggar's fate ambiguous. Throughout the collection, Hichens employs a somber, atmospheric tone to examine how the past inevitably intrudes upon the present, often with devastating consequences.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction
• Manners and customs