Project Gutenberg 2003-03-01 Public domain in the USA. 148 Corelli, Marie 1855 1924 Mackay, Mary Corelli, Maria The Secret Power Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. "The Secret Power" by Marie Corelli is a novel written during the late 19th century. The story unfolds in Southern California, where a man lives in isolation in a small cabin, engrossed in his reading and scientific pursuits, seemingly disconnected from the world. The narrative introduces his interactions with a strong and committed woman named Manella, who brings him food from a nearby hotel. Their conversations reveal contrasting views on love, existence, and the nature of relationships, particularly highlighting the man's cynical perspective on affection and attraction. At the start of the novel, vivid imagery captures a tranquil yet majestic setting as a cloud drifts over mountainous landscapes, paralleling the protagonist's isolation. We meet the man, whose name is not yet disclosed, and witness his philosophical musings on life, love, and the human condition, while Manella expresses her yearning for connection and care. Their dynamic shifts between playful banter and deeper, charged conversations about the essence of love and the societal expectations surrounding it, leaving the reader curious about the development of their relationship. The dialogue hints at underlying tensions, particularly as Manella grapples with her feelings for him, while he steadfastly maintains a belief in the absence of true love. This opening sets the stage for a deeper exploration of themes such as isolation, romance, existential inquiry, and the conflict between emotion and intellect. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 72.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Sicily (Italy) -- Fiction California -- Fiction PR Text Category: Romance Category: Novels 596471 2025-08-02T09:16:27.569458 text/html 602170 2021-01-09T00:40:54 text/html 289651 2025-08-02T09:16:35.936385 application/epub+zip 299704 2025-08-02T09:16:29.465413 application/epub+zip 299704 2025-08-02T09:16:28.280389 application/epub+zip 511870 2025-08-02T09:16:40.616356 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 496458 2025-08-02T09:16:35.161410 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 471429 2022-09-02T12:02:20.562306 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 552419 2025-08-02T09:16:25.896493 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 552344 2021-01-09T00:40:54 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18977 2025-08-02T09:16:40.777344 application/rdf+xml 12276 2025-08-02T09:16:28.810405 image/jpeg 3379 2025-08-02T09:16:28.546389 image/jpeg 222746 2021-01-09T00:40:54 application/octet-stream application/zip 216749 2021-01-09T00:40:54 application/octet-stream application/zip 282650 2025-08-02T09:16:27.616448 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia