Basil KingWilliam Benjamin Basil King was a Canadian-born Anglican clergyman and writer known for fiction that explores faith, moral struggle, and the inner life. Born in 1859 to parents whose names are not widely recorded, he was educated at the University ofKing's College in Nova Scotia and later served as an Episcopal rector in Halifax and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Due to declining eyesight and thyroid illness, he retired from active ministry and turned to writing around the age of fifty. His early novels gained modest attention, but he achieved major success with The inner shrine, a widely read work centred on love, loss, and spiritual awakening. His later writings increasingly emphasized spiritual and mystical concerns, including fear, the afterlife, and the possibility of communication beyond death, as seen in works like The abolishing of death and The conquest of fear. Despite criticism for sentimentality, his books resonated with broad audiences and established him as a notable voice in religious and psychological fiction. Read More Read Less