"Sinister Street, vol. 1" by Compton Mackenzie is a novel published in 1913. This coming-of-age story follows Michael Fane and his sister Stella, two children born out of wedlock to wealthy parents in an era when such circumstances carried deep social stigma. The novel traces Michael's development from a precocious boy through his experiences at prep school and Oxford, capturing the texture of early twentieth-century English life with lavish detail and unflinching confidence.