The Mystics

by Katherine Cecil Thurston

The A Novel, by the author of "THE MASQUERADER" and "THE GAMBLER." "John," he said, tremulously, "I want you to swear to me by the Sign that you will not touch my body -- nor anything on my body -- till the Arch-Councillor comes! Swear, as you hope for your own happiness!" A wild illumination spread over his face; the unpleasant fanatical light showed again in his eyes. For a moment John looked at him; then stirred by his own emotions, by the new pang of self-reproach and gratitude towards this half-crazy man so near his end, he went forward and touched the small octagonal symbol that gleamed in the light. "I swear -- by the Sign!" he said, in a low, level voice. And almost as the words escaped him, the chain slipped from old Henderson's fingers, his jaw dropped, and his head fell forward on his chest.

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Katherine Cecil Thurston (18 April 1875 - 5 September 1911) was an Irish novelist. Born Katherine Cecil Madden in Cork, Ireland, the only daughter of banker Paul J. Madden (who was Mayor of Cork 1885-1886, and a friend of Charles Stuart Parnell) and Catherine Madden (born Barry), she was privately educated. By the end of the 19th century she was contributing short stories to various British and American publications, such as Pall Mall Magazine, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Windsor Magazine and others. In 1901, she married the writer Ernest Temple Thurston (1879-1933). They separated in 1907 and were divorced in 1910.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Irish author Thurston was my Literary Birthday Challenge choice for April. I generally try to use that challenge to discover new-to-me authors. I had planned a different title as my introduction to her work, but time constraints these days convinced me to start with something shorter, which is why I chose The Mystics.

Thurston was popular in the early 1900's. The Mystics had a copyright date of 1904, with the edition at Gutenberg published in 1907. It had previously appeared serialized in Blackwood's Magazine, according to Wiki, which also tells how Thurston had two novels on the USA top ten best-seller lists in 1910. Three other Thurston works are available to me at Gutenberg and I want to have a go with at least one of them.

I gave The Mystics just two stars for a number of reasons, even though I thought the basic plot was interesting. We start off with our hero John sitting at his uncle's deathbed, on a dark and stormy night. While waiting for the moment to give the old man his next dose of medicine, we are told John's history: son of the oldest brother who was disinherited, when his father dies Mom can think of only one thing to get her boy John out of the slums of London so she writes to the younger brother who had been given the family estate and fortune. The uncle is part of a mysterious sect called The Mystics, who are preparing for their Prophet. As Uncle dies, he tells John he must wait for another elder of the sect to arrive before anything is done. There is a holy book that must be reclaimed by this other person and no one else must touch it or Uncle's body.

What happens after the uncle dies makes up the rest of the story; but the action begins again ten years later. Did John inherit the wealth he felt entitled to? Did The Prophet ever appear? Who is Enid and why was she involved with The Mystics in the first place?

I had all sorts of thoughts about where this story might be headed, but ultimately it felt almost like a rough draft. There could have been so much more depth, not only in the story itself but in the character portrayals. And nothing annoys me more than a hugely dramatic scene being cut off when the main female character faints from the tension and we all learn what happens much later after she wakes up. Unfortunately this is how Thurston closes the story.

I want to read or at least start reading a different Thurston title Someday to see if she sticks to the same formula in her longer books. I waffled between 2 and 3 stars for The Mystics, but finally decided it only deserved two.....it was an okay story, just like a two star rating says. I couldn't give another star for mere potential.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather odd little book. More of a long short story/novella than a novel and focused around a mystical cult. Maybe such cults were big in 1907, and this was the author's attempt at exposing them? Either way, it's a well-written story and I found it engrossing even though I wasn't quite sure about the man at the center of it. John Henderson feels betrayed by a cult which he dismisses as misguided fanaticism, so he sets out to get revenge. But to spend ten years learning eastern philosophy just so you can perpetrate a fraud upon the cult seems pretty fanatical too (Pot, meet Kettle). Anyway, it sort of works, and it ended well.