The dream: A novel

In Short

In a enlightened future world, a scientist named Sarnac wakes from a intense dream in which he lived an entire past life as Harry Mortimer Smith, a small-town greengrocer’s son who grows up in the dark, chaotic turn-of-the-century era. Resting at a mountain retreat, Sarnac narrates Harry’s upbringing, romantic heartbreaks, wartime service, and eventual murder to his utopian companions. By placing the petty cruelties and narrow dogmas of the early 1900s alongside a peaceful future, the novel endures as a vivid critique of human short-sightedness and a hopeful vision of ultimate social progress.

The Story

The frame of the novel opens in a golden utopian future, where the scientist Sarnac goes on a mountain holiday with his lover Sunray to rest his overworked mind. While sleeping in a mountain cabin, Sarnac experiences an extraordinarily detailed dream of an entire life spent in the late Victorian and early twentieth-century era—the "Age of Confusion." Upon waking, Sarnac sits before a fire with Sunray and their companions, recounting his life as Harry Mortimer Smith to an audience fascinated by the barbaric, ignorant ways of their distant ancestors.

Harry’s story begins in a gloomy greengrocer’s shop in Cherryfield, where he grows up under the weight of strict Christian dogmas, the fear of hell, and family poverty. His parents struggle to run the business, aided by his uncle John Julip, until financial ruin and domestic squabbles fragment the home. Harry's beloved sister Fanny runs away to live as a kept woman, causing scandal, while his brother Ernest pushes their widowed mother to move to London to run a boarding house. Determined to escape illiteracy, Harry takes low-paying jobs as an errand boy and clerk, attending evening classes to educate himself against the prevailing tide of cultural inertia.

Eventually securing an editorial role at Thunderstone House, a publishing firm in London, Harry matures into young manhood. His quiet life is upended by the outbreak of the First World War. Before departing to serve in France, Harry falls deeply in love with Hetty, a young woman he meets on the hills near the coast. They marry during the war, but their marriage suffers under the strains of long separations and wartime trauma. Upon returning home, Harry discovers that Hetty has been unfaithful during his absence. Blinded by moral outrage and a rigid sense of betrayal, Harry strikes her and furiously files for divorce, ignoring the underlying sorrow and circumstances that drove her to another man.

Harry marries a stable woman named Milly and rises to a position of responsibility within his publishing company. Yet he remains haunted by his lack of mercy toward Hetty. Years later, he runs into Hetty by chance in a park, where the two share a tender, wistful reconciliation, acknowledging that their youth and the harsh conventions of their time ruined what could have been a deep love. This reunion triggers the jealousy of Sumner, the deceitful man involved in Hetty's past. Sumner corners Harry in a side street near Thunderstone House and shoots him dead. As the bullet strikes him, Harry awakens as Sarnac, stepping onto the balcony to greet a bright utopian sunrise.

How It Unfolds

A holiday in the mountains Sarnac and his companion Sunray travel to a serene wilderness to recover from intensive research, where Sarnac falls into a prolonged, incredibly vivid dream of a past life.

Life in the shop Young Harry Mortimer Smith grows up in a dim, damp greengrocer's shop in Cherryfield, shaped by rigid religious anxieties, cold living spaces, and family squabbles over money.

Family collapse Finances deteriorate, prompting Harry’s sister Fanny to escape the miserable household, while their mother, left a widow, moves the remaining family to London to manage a lodging house.

The fight for learning Determined not to remain uneducated, Harry fights against the discouragement of his family and elders, securing day jobs and attending night classes to expand his intellect.

War and romance Harry earns an editorial position at a publisher, but his life shifts when he meets Hetty; they fall passionately in love and marry just as Harry enters military service in the Great War.

Betrayal and divorce Returning from France, Harry finds Hetty has betrayed him, and in a fit of pride and moral fury, he strikes her, rejects her pleas, and pursues a strict divorce.

Regret and the fatal end Years after remarrying, Harry meets Hetty again and forgives her, but his lingering ties and past grievances lead him to a fatal encounter with her vengeful lover, ending his life and ending Sarnac's dream.

The People

• Sarnac: A brilliant future scientist whose exhaustive brain research leads to a vivid dream of a previous life as Harry Smith; he uses his vision to reflect on human progress.
• Harry Mortimer Smith: The central figure of Sarnac’s dream; an ambitious, sensitive youth who strives to rise above his impoverished, dogmatic upbringing, yet succumbs to the unforgiving moral rigidities of his era.
• Hetty: Harry’s first wife, whose warmth and beauty spark Harry's deepest romantic passions; her wartime weakness causes a rift that neither can repair before it is too late.
• Fanny Smith: Harry's independent elder sister, who rejects her mother's suffocating domestic control and runs away to forge her own scandalous path in London.
• Mrs. Smith: Harry’s mother, a hard-working, intolerant woman whose fear of sin and fierce maternal instincts alienate her children even as she attempts to save them.
• Uncle John Julip: A shiftless, heavy-drinking uncle whose poor decisions contribute to the ruin of the family greengrocery business.
• Sumner: A bitter, malicious man connected to Hetty’s downfall, whose lingering grudge leads directly to Harry's murder.

In Its Own Voice

"The old world was essentially a world of muddle-headed sophisticated children, blind to the universal catastrophe of the top-heavy and collapsing civilisation in which they played their parts."

Sarnac explains the mental state of twentieth-century society to his future listeners.

"Education! That's all very well for those who have nothing better to do, but you want to get on in the world."

Matilda Good expresses the common working-class skepticism regarding self-improvement.

"We were only beginning to learn the art of being human."

Sarnac reflects upon the emotional cruelty and lack of empathy that plagued historical relationships.

What It's Really About

Underneath its time-spanning framework, the novel is an indictment of the institutional and emotional traps of early twentieth-century society. It argues that fear—particularly the fear of damnation, social disgrace, and poverty—poisoned human relationships and stunted intellectual growth. The story contrasts the dark, haphazard world of Victorian moralism with a future grounded in empathy, clarity, and scientific understanding. Through Harry’s bitter split with Hetty, the book explores how rigid societal expectations and personal pride prevent forgiveness, turning potential happiness into unnecessary tragedy. Ultimately, it asserts that humanity's historical suffering was not an inevitable part of human nature, but a temporary phase in the slow evolution toward genuine compassion and sanity.

Why Read It Today

This novel offers a compelling blend of intimate social realism and utopian satire. Readers who enjoy classic Edwardian literature, coming-of-age stories, or speculative fiction that examines the flaws of modern culture will find it deeply engaging. The experience of reading it feels like looking back at our own recent past through the clear eyes of an enlightened future observer, making ordinary everyday struggles appear both poignant and absurd.

The narrative moves smoothly, though readers must navigate periodic pauses where future listeners discuss and analyze the historical details of Harry’s life. Additionally, the portrayals of early twentieth-century class struggles, heavy London dialects, and strict moral taboos reflect the period attitudes of its publication era. What remains with you is the striking contrast between the beauty of human affection and the senseless barriers people construct against it, wrapped in a deeply hopeful vision of what humanity might eventually become.