Revenge! is a collection of short stories that examine the emotional and ethical dimensions of vengeance through intense and often unsettling scenarios. The characters range from spouses locked in mutual hatred to political actors caught in cycles of violence, all driven by a common thread of retribution. The opening story introduces a man who, overwhelmed by years of bitterness, plots to murder his wife during a trip through the Swiss Alps. As his resentment sharpens during their journey, he contemplates pushing her from a mountain ledge, believing the natural setting offers the perfect cover. Yet the story twists when his wife discloses her own deadly intentions, mirroring his hatred and ambition. This dual revelation reframes the act of revenge as a tangled and ironic force, suggesting that those who harbor it are rarely alone in their desires. The following tale, Which Was the Murderer?, moves from private to political betrayal, as a failed assassination attempt sets off a moral inquiry into justice and responsibility. Through these opening stories, Barr establishes a tone of psychological tension and ethical ambiguity, drawing readers into a world where revenge is never simple and consequences are rarely foreseen.
Robert Barr (September 16, 1849 – October 21, 1912) was a Scottish-Canadian novelist and short story writer who also worked as a newspaper and magazine editor. Barr was born to Robert Barr and Jane Watson in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to Upper Canada with his parents in 1854. His family eventually settled on a farm near Muirkirk. Barr served his father as a carpenter and builder, taught in Kent County, and then enrolled in the Toronto Normal School in 1873. Following graduation, he taught in Walkerville before becoming principal of the Central School in Windsor in 1874. During the 1870s, he wrote for a variety of newspapers, notably the Toronto Grip, under the pen name "Luke Sharp," which he derived from an undertaker's sign. After the Detroit Free Press printed his story of a boating expedition on Lake Erie, he changed careers and became a reporter and columnist there in 1876. He was followed to the newspaper by two of his brothers. Barr chose to "vamoose the ranch" in 1881, when he was exchange editor of the Free Press, and traveled to London to resume his fiction writing career while developing a weekly English edition of the newspaper. The magazine was a huge success.
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