Marie Corelli was born in England. She was the illegitimate daughter of the Scottish poet Charles Mackey and his servant. Marie was sent to a Parisian convent for her education. She began as a musician and gave up that career in favor of a career as a writer. A reoccurring theme throughout her work was reconciling Christianity with reincarnation, astral projection and other mystical topics. Temporal Power: A Study in Supremacy was published in 1902. The story is a "Graustarkian fantasy" or alternate history. The plot centers around a revolution in an imaginary nation ruled by a socialist king.