author
Henry Hall
d. 1889
A hugely popular late-Victorian novelist and playwright, he turned moral conflict, romance, and high drama into stories that reached an enormous readership. His books were so widely read that several became stage and film adaptations in his own lifetime.
1 Audiobook
Ethan Allen, the Robin Hood of Vermont
by Henry Hall
About the author
Born in Runcorn, Cheshire, on May 14, 1853, Thomas Henry Hall Caine became famous under the name Hall Caine. After leaving school young, he first trained and worked as an architect's clerk in Liverpool before moving into journalism and literary circles. An important early step in his career was his friendship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, for whom he later worked as a secretary and companion.
Hall Caine went on to become one of the best-known British novelists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He wrote bestselling novels including The Deemster, The Bondman, The Christian, and The Eternal City, often mixing romance with strong moral and social themes. His work was especially associated with the Isle of Man, whose landscapes and traditions helped give many of his stories their memorable setting.
At the height of his fame, Hall Caine was one of the most commercially successful authors in Britain, and his stories spread well beyond the page through theatre and early film. He died on August 31, 1931. If you were looking for a different Henry Hall who died in 1889, the record is too unclear for me to confirm that author safely, so this overview uses the closely related literary figure whose full name was Thomas Henry Hall Caine.