The Man Without a Face

Albert Boissiere

Jan 1911 · G. W. Dillingham

Ratings and reviews

On discovering that his son Polydore has killed his own mother, artist M. Barrabas decides to shield his son by writing a confession himself. Seeking advice from his lawyer brother-in-law, he meets another client, American millionaire Addison Kingsley, who mistakes Barrabas for the lawyer and carries him off to help prevent his son William from marrying the beautiful Lucie Weil, whom Kingsley has kidnapped. Kingsley wants someone to assume the identity of his dead partner Charles Douglass and marry Lucie before William can. Seeing a way to shed his identity as a (supposed) murderer, Barrabas offers himself for the position, not realizing that Kingsley intends to destroy his face with acid to ensure the disguise. The plot only grows more convoluted and unlikely in a way that only French novels can.