I got interested in the book When it was Dark, written by Guy Thorne and first published in 1903, when the British and American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens cited it as an example of what people believe would happen to the world without religion. Specific information is available on the book’s Wikipedia page.
In my opinion, this Christian novel is quite an interesting read. The book was written in 1903, and it shows. As expected, religious people are the good guys, while atheists are the bad guys. The central assumption of the book is that people, without religion, are mostly incapable of moral behavior. As a work of fiction, the author doesn’t have to prove this assumption; he uses it as a base to develop the plot. Other assumptions about the novel’s age include the roles and descriptions of female characters.
There is no point in accusing the author of sexism or bigotry (as some reviewers do); he was a man of his time. It is much more interesting to read the book and observe how much our culture has changed, for the better, over the past 100 years.
The book remains an enjoyable read despite being written over a century ago.
BTW, the Kindle edition of “When it was Dark” is free!
