Books with author J. Sheridan le Fanu

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Maud Ruthyn is an heiress who lives with her somber, reclusive father Austin Ruthyn in their mansion at Knowl. Through her father and her worldly, cheerful cousin, Lady Monica Knollys, she gradually learns more regarding her uncle, Silas Ruthyn, a black sheep of the family whom she has never met. Once an infamous rake and gambler, he is now apparently a fervently reformed Christian. His reputation has been tainted by the suspicious suicide of a man to whom Silas owed an enormous gambling debt, which took place within a locked, apparently impenetrable room in Silas's mansion at Bartram-Haugh.

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Maud Ruthyn is an heiress who lives with her somber, reclusive father Austin Ruthyn in their mansion at Knowl. Through her father and her worldly, cheerful cousin, Lady Monica Knollys, she gradually learns more regarding her uncle, Silas Ruthyn, a black sheep of the family whom she has never met. Once an infamous rake and gambler, he is now apparently a fervently reformed Christian. His reputation has been tainted by the suspicious suicide of a man to whom Silas owed an enormous gambling debt, which took place within a locked, apparently impenetrable room in Silas's mansion at Bartram-Haugh.

"The Purcell Papers" is a collection of thirteen Gothic, supernatural, historical and humorous short stories by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu originally written for the Dublin University Magazine.In considering Le Fanu as a writer in the mystery and detective tradition, one might be tempted to call his novels mysteries without a detective.He is better known today as a short-story writer than as a novelist and he is considered to be the father of the Victorian ghost story. His many tales first appeared in periodicals, later to be combined into collections. In addition to having genuine intrinsic merit, the stories are important to an understanding of Le Fanu the novelist, for in them he perfected the techniques of mood, characterisation, and plot construction that make his later novels so obviously superior to his early efforts.

"Uncle Silas" is J. Sheridan Le Fanu's classic gothic novel narrated by the teenage character Maud Ruthyn who lives with her reclusive father Austyn Ruthyn in their mansion at Knowl. From her father Maud comes to learn of her Uncle Silas, an infamous rake and gambler and the suspicious suicide of a man to whom Silas owes an enormous gambling death. Mystery surrounds this suicide as the man is found dead in a locked room. While Austyn is convinced of his brother's innocence Maud is not and when her father unexpectedly dies, she must go to live with her Uncle. As Maud suspects that Uncle Silas has designs on her inheritance she finds herself in a dreadful situation in which she fears for her life. "Uncle Silas" is a chilling psychological thriller that is considered by many as Le Fanu's best and most popular work.

Joseph Sheridan le Fanu was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century, and he is now seen as central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. His work is credited with turning the Gothic's focus from the external sources of horror to the inward effects of terror, thus helping to create the psychological basis for supernaturalist literature that continues to this day. First published in 1872, le Fanu's novella 'Carmilla' tells the story of a young woman falling for the chamrs of a female vampire, and predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. Many of the earliest and most interesting vampire stories, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This Gothic novella tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years, and has been adapted many times for cinema. Although Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than the generally-considered master work of that genre, Dracula, the latter is heavily influenced by Le Fanu's short story.

Sheridan Le Fanu's most celebrated novelIn Uncle Silas, Maud Ruthyn, the young, naïve heroine, is plagued by Madame de la Rougierre from the moment the enigmatic older woman is hired as her governess. A liar, bully, and spy, when Madame leaves the house, she takes her dark secret with her. But when Maud is orphaned, she is sent to live with her Uncle Silas, her father's mysterious brother and a man with a scandalous-even murderous-past. And, once again, she encounters Madame, whose sinister role in Maud's destiny becomes all too clear.With its subversion of reality and illusion, and its exploration of fear through the use of mystery and the supernatural, Uncle Silas shuns the conventions of traditional horror and delivers a chilling psychological thriller.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.