Martin Faber: The Story of a Criminal with "Confessions of a Murder"

by William Gilmore Simms, John Caldwell Guilds (Editor)

William Gilmore Simms’s (1806–1870) body of work, a sweeping fictional portrait of the colonial and antebellum South in all its regional diversity, with its literary and intellectual issues, is probably more comprehensive than any other nineteenth-century southern author. Simms’s career began with a short novel, Martin Faber, published in 1833. This Gothic tale is reminiscent of James Hogg’s Confessions of a Sinner and was written four years before Edgar Allan Poe’s “William Wilson.” Narrated in the first person, it is considered a pioneering examination of criminal psychology. Martin seduces then murders Emily so that he might marry another woman, Constance. Martin confesses to his friend and is killed after attempting to stab Constance when she visits him in jail. The book was immediately successful and was well received by the northern media, thus starting Simms’s successful career as a writer, one that would rank him as the only major southern literary figure besides Poe before the Civil War. As with other volumes in the Arkansas Edition of Simms’s work, this volume includes a critical introduction by the editor and a Simms chronology, as well as appendices dealing with textual matters. This edition also includes Simms’s 1829 story, “Confessions of a Murderer,” which was the germ for his first book of fiction.

Genres: Horror

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1833

About the author

William Gilmore Simms (April 17, 1806 – June 11, 1870) was a poet, novelist and historian from the American South whose novels achieved great prominence during the 19th century, with Edgar Allan Poe pronouncing him the best novelist America had ever produced. In recent decades, though, Simms' novels have fallen out of favor, although he is still known among literary scholars as a major force in antebellum Southern literature. He is also remembered for his strong support of slavery and for his opposition to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in response to which he wrote reviews and a novel.

Reviews

[Miles Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simms' early novel flirts with the macabre in a way that foreshadowed Poe. Martin Faber is a sort of psychological thriller combined with a moral and spiritual lesson about the ultimate stupidity of evil. There is a unmistakable hint of Milton in Faber's eventual overthrow.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this fictional account of a murderer and his progression from childhood. The reader got close into the mind of Martin and identified his thought process. Because of the small redeemable quality shown in him, I found myself rooting for his victory in the end and wanting the demise of the annoying "good" characters. It was a short fun read.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so creepy and weird!