The Infidel

In the fevered world of a great religious revival, M. E. Braddon's The Infidel brings private longing and public faith into sharp collision. Antonia Thornton, a gifted young woman tied to her father's literary vanity and her companion Patty Lester's theatrical wit, moves from drawing rooms and shabby-genteel lodgings into the harsher realities of charity, poverty, and spiritual doubt. Around her, George Stobart wrestles with duty, desire, and the demands of conversion, even as Lady Kilrush—once a figure of social brilliance—emerges as a woman transformed by compassionate service yet still skeptical of doctrine. As visits to the sick, the poor, and the imprisoned deepen their bonds, Braddon traces moral awakening, romantic tension, and the cost of conviction. The novel's vivid cast of writers, actresses, families, and lovers reveals a society where reputation, ambition, and belief shape every relation, and where redemption is always shadowed by temptation, pride, and grief. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.