Ernest G. Henham's novel Krum: A Study of Consciousness was originally published in 1904 and is a modern take on the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son with a few unexpected turns. The title character, Krum, is the assumed name of Walter Phair who has an unscrupulous business partnership with look-alike Leonard Munro, himself a recently released convict. The two vagabonds wander the plains of Canada together during the early 20th century with the dream of striking it rich by prospecting for opals. After a fatal ...
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Ernest G. Henham's novel Krum: A Study of Consciousness was originally published in 1904 and is a modern take on the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son with a few unexpected turns. The title character, Krum, is the assumed name of Walter Phair who has an unscrupulous business partnership with look-alike Leonard Munro, himself a recently released convict. The two vagabonds wander the plains of Canada together during the early 20th century with the dream of striking it rich by prospecting for opals. After a fatal confrontation, Munro takes on the identity of his deceased partner and travels to Oxfordshire, England in order to gain respect and a family he never had. In the tiny, moorland village of Windycombe, Munro (now as Walter Phair), attempts to reconcile with Walter's estranged father, Robert Phair, who is Lord of the Manor. Robert fails to welcome back his wayward son and Munro seeks the aid of Walter's attractive, younger sister, Jessie. As they work to restore Phair's relationship with his son, Munro falls in love with Jessie. Ironically, Munro's attraction to Jessie is forbidden due to his effective impersonation of her brother. His situation is made more difficult by the fact that Percy Finch, the lazy son of the village parson/gossip, becomes interested in Jessie as well and Munro is immobilized by his charade. Other interesting characters in the village watch the events unfold and one of them knows more about the Phairs than they care to disclose because of their own family secret. Can Munro redeem the soul of the scoundrel he impersonates? More importantly, does he have the strength of character to admit to Jessie the twisted lie about his identity and to face the repercussions his confession might bring to their own relationship? Krum marks a crucial turning point in Henham's development as a novelist and is largely forgotten as a masterful piece in his large body of work. It was published after his early stories about Canadian history and adventure when he was struggling to find his voice as an author and immediately prior to his later novels of the Dartmoor region when his mature writing style brought him literary success. This novel is the bridge between those two periods in Henham's career and contains all of his characteristic elements of nature, spiritualism, religion, rural comedy and classic tragedy. This edition of Krum includes detailed notes relating to the many historical, literary, Biblical and geographic references in the book.
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