St. Elmo (novel)

Augusta Jane Evans.

A frame from the lost film St. Elmo (1914), based on the novel by Augusta Jane Evans.

St. Elmo or Saved At Last is a novel by American author Augusta Jane Evans published in 1866. Featuring the sexual tension between the protagonist St. Elmo, a cynical man, and the heroine Edna Earl, a beautiful and devout girl, the novel was about the agency of women who could save men from apostasy.[1] The novel became one of the most popular novels of the 19th century. The novel sold a million copies within four months of its publication.

Augusta Jane Evans (May 8, 1835 – May 9, 1909) finished her celebrated novel at El Dorado, a historical home in Columbus, Georgia. In 1878, the home was purchased by Captain and Mrs. James J. Slade who changed its name to St. Elmo in honor of the novel which it had inspired.[2]

  1. ^ Ayres 2016, p. 252.
  2. ^ National Register of Historic Places, http://www.nps.gov/nr/