Educated in Liverpool, Caine became an apprentice architect while developing his writing skills in trade journals and newspapers. Invited to London by Daniel Gabriel Rossetti who was impressed by his talents, Caine and him became life-long friends. In 1885, Caine published his first novel, The Shadow of a Crime and followed with A son of Hagar in 1886. Because of his family ties to the Isle of Man and his knowledge of its culture, Caine's next novel, The Deemster (1887), incorporated this knowledge and finally brought him to prominence as a novelist. In the final years of the nineteenth century, Caine was one of the most successful and widely-read authors in the western world. In 1901, he was elected to the Isle of Man's House of Keys (the local Parliament) and spent the next few years there before returning to England. During the First World War, Caine contributed many patriotic articles to periodicals and also edited King Albert's Book. In 1918, he became a K.B.E and in 1922, was made a Companion of Honour. From 1922 until his death in 1931, Caine devoted his energies to his life-work, The Life of Christ, which was published posthumously in 1938. Caine's best-known works include The Bondman (1890), The Scapegoat (1890), Cap'n David's Honeymoon (1893), The Manxman (1894), The Christian (1897), The Eternal City (1901), The Prodigal Son (1904), The White Prophet (1909), and The Master of Man (1921). |
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