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The Light That Failed is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events throughout the story occur in Sudan and Port Said. It follows the life of Dick Heldar, an artist and painter who goes blind, and his unrequited love for his childhood playmate, Maisie. The Light That Failed was initially set to be published first by John W. Lovell in New York, but it was delayed, allowing for Lippincott's Magazine to publish it first in January 1891. The novel, Kipling's first, was published in four different versions over a period of two years. The Lippincott edition had twelve chapters and a happy ending. Kipling, however, had originally written a fifteen-chapter version that ended with Dick's death. Deciding that this would be too sad for public consumption, he changed it to end with the protagonists' engagement. Lippincott paid Kipling $800 for the novel.
This edition is the fifteen-chapter edition which was published as a hardback "Standard edition" by MacMillan with a prefatory note that stated: "... The Light That Failed as it was originally conceived by the Writer." It is believed that Kipling's mother had pressed to release the happy ending, which Kipling later regretted, leading to the note in the "Standard edition" of the novel.
Kipling wrote the novel when he was 26 years old, and it is semi-autobiographical, being based upon his own unrequited love for Florence Garrard. Though it was poorly received by critics, the novel has managed to remain in print for over a century. It was also adapted into a play, two silent films and a film with sound.
THE LIGHT THAT FAILED
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