The Shadow of a Sin

by Charlotte M. Brame, Bertha M. Clay

She is coming-my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat Had it lain for a century dead. A rich musical voice trolled out the words, not once, but many times over-carelessly at first, and then the full sense of them seemed to strike the singer. 'Had it lain for a century dead, ' he repeated slowly. "Ah, me! the difference between poetry and fact-when I have lain for a century dead, the light footfalls of a fair woman will not awaken me. 'Beyond the sun, woman's beauty and woman's love are of small account;' yet here-ah, when will she come?" The singer, who was growing impatient, was an exceedingly handsome young man-of not more than twenty-with a face that challenged all criticism-bright, careless, defiant, full of humor, yet with a gleam of poetry-a face that girls and women judge instantly, and always like. He did not look capable of wrong, this young lover, who sung his love-song so cheerily, neither did he look capable of wicked thoughts.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Charlotte Mary Brame (middle name sometimes given as Monica, last name sometimes spelled Braeme) was an English author of romantic novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Bertha M. Clay.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading this with very mixed feelings. I had not read any of Bertha Clay's (Charlotte Braeme) books before, and the first three chapters were very interesting, yet foreshadowed too much and had almost the air of being part of a cheap novel. However, once I was past the first five chapters, I couldn't put it down. The foreshadowing, after all, is just for the first part of the book, and gives no great hint for the ending.
The heroine must decide to do right and does it well, though she suffers for the decision. For those who have a hard time with the beginning, just skim until you get to the good part! It is a romance, so I would probably not read a lot of her books in a row, but I didn't even care. The heroine is easy to care for and the short chapters make it easy to day, "just three more pages..."
Project Gutenburg released this book about a week ago, and I'm so glad they did! It is well edited and formatted.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very preachy, hard to imagine why elopement (is this like a very veiled reference to premarital sex?!) is such a big deal. Luckily, it's OK to almost elope as long as you heroically save a man from a murder charge by giving him an alibi! This story gets into the idea if you raise a kid with no joy or trust in you, she'll have a rich interior life she tells you nothing about and apparently not trust her fiance with her location or concerns.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more books I read by Charlotte M. Brame (aka Bertha M. Clay), the more I like her.

“The Shadow of a Sin” kept me engaged throughout because I cared about the main characters, particularly the lead female Hyacinth.

Hyacinth at first comes across as spoilt and rebellious, but the reader soon finds out that she’s naïve and kind. Hyacinth’s been mislead by a man she thinks she loves, and she's lead astray by him because she suffers a boring lifestyle courtesy of her rigid aunt.

As the story develops, Hyacinth’s character becomes increasingly appealing, as does the plot. Of course, because of the time this was written, the problems and obstacles the characters face are, in many respects, trivial compared to how society’s values have changed. As a result, this novel won’t appeal to everyone, but it suited my tastes.