The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

‘My life has been a life of trouble and turmoil; of change and vicissitude; of anger and exultation; of sorrow and of vengeance’

Robert Colwan, a clergyman’s son, is so confident of his salvation as one of the Lord’s elect that he comes to look on himself as a man apart, unhindered by considerations of mere earthly law. Through Robert’s own unforgettable account, we follow the strange and sinful life into which he is led by a devilish doppelgänger – a life that will finally lead him to murder. Steeped in the folkloric superstitions and theological traditions of eighteenth-century Scotland, this macabre and haunting novel is a devastating portrayal of the stages by which the human spirit can descend into darkness.

Based on the first edition of 1824, John Wain’s text incorporates key revisions from the 1837 edition to provide the most accurate possible version of this complex and rewarding work. In his introduction, he illuminates the novel’s historical background of religious and political controversy.