Other editions of book Checkmate

Symbolic of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s transitional status is the fact that his first novel, The Cock and Anchor (1845), originally a historical novel, was rewritten much later as a real mystery story, with a change of time and place, and published as Checkmate (1871). One cannot but admire the cleverness with which he adapts the characters and even the minor details of plot to his changed purpose.Some of the changes in Checkmate may not be relevant to this discussion, being made necessary by the change of setting from eighteenth century Ireland to Victorian England; some of the subordinate villains change from stage Irishmen to stage Jews, and the hero becomes a respectable gentleman who waits in the wings to marry the heroine (who does not die). It is the handling of the villain that shows Le Fanu’s skill in a new genre. Blarden is a villain of the crudest kind, but his counterpart, Walter Longcluse, is an elegant gentleman who moves easily in the best society; he has immense wealth but a somewhat mysterious past. Although there is nothing improper about his courting the heroine, Alice Arden, her family rejects him in favor of a presentable lord; in his anger, he behaves like Blarden and blackmails Alice’s brother. At this point, a somewhat primitive Sherlock Holmes figure intervenes. Alice’s uncle, David Arden, a successful businessman, follows a hunch that there is some connection between Longcluse and Yelland Mace, who years before had been involved in the murder of Arden’s brother. In Paris, Arden tracks down the mysterious Baron Vanboeren, the plastic surgeon who had transformed Mace into Longcluse. Mace/Longcluse turns out to be an illegitimate Arden, who seeks revenge. Though not considered one of Le Fanu’s best novels, Checkmate is notable for the ingenious development of the plot and for the character of Longcluse. The transformation of the benevolent uncle should be noted: Mary Ashewoode’s uncles are ready to defend her with their money and the sword, but David Arden protects his niece with his analytical mind. There is an official detective in the novel, but he has been discharged from the police force, is duped by the villain, and dies ignominiously of scarlatina.

Walter Longcluse is clever, cunning and rich. Having insinuated himself into the affections of the Arden family, he becomes devoted to the beautiful young Alice, although she cannot bring herself to like this strange and mysterious friend of her brother's. Then Longcluse visits a gambling club with Alice's brother, Richard, and finds himself confronting the indiscreet Monsieur Lebas, with whom he had been mixed up in the past. Later the same evening Lebas is found stabbed. What is the secret of Longcluse's disfigurement and the 'dark' past which he reveals to no one? Why did Mrs Tansey, the Ardens' housekeeper, react so strongly when she recognized Longcluse's voice? What is it that Longcluse so fears?

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was born on August 28th, 1814, at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family with Huguenot, Irish and English roots. The children were tutored but, according to his brother William, the tutor taught them little if anything. Le Fanu was eager to learn and used his father's library to educate himself about the world. He was a creative child and by fifteen had taken to writing poetry. Accepted into Trinity College, Dublin to study law he also benefited from the system used in Ireland that he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university as and when necessary. This enabled him to also write and by 1838 Le Fanu's first story The Ghost and the Bonesetter was published in the Dublin University Magazine. Many of the short stories he wrote at the time were to form the basis for his future novels. Indeed, throughout his career Le Fanu would constantly revise, cannabilise, embellish and re-publish his earlier works to use in his later efforts. Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide. One of the themes running through them is a sad nostalgia for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand in mute salute and testament to this history. On 18 December 1844 Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister. The union would produce four children. Le Fanu was now stretching his talents across the length of a novel and his first was The Cock and Anchor published in 1845. A succession of works followed and his reputation grew as well as his income. Unfortunately, a decade after his marriage it became an increasing source of difficultly. Susanna was prone to suffer from a range of neurotic symptoms including great anxiety after the deaths of several close relatives, including her father two years before. In April 1858 she suffered an "hysterical attack" and died in circumstances that are still unclear. The anguish, profound guilt as well as overwhelming loss were channeled into Le Fanu’s work. Working only by the light of two candles he would write through the night and burnish his reputation as a major figure of 19th Century supernaturalism. His work challenged the focus on the external source of horror and instead he wrote about it from the perspective of the inward psychological potential to strike fear in the hearts of men. A series of books now came forth: Wylder's Hand (1864), Guy Deverell (1865), The Tenants of Malory (1867), The Green Tea (1869), The Haunted Baronet (1870), Mr. Justice Harbottle (1872), The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872) and In a Glass Darkly. (1872). But his life was drawing to a close. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu died in Merrion Square in his native Dublin on February 7th, 1873, at the age of 58.

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This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

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Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 – 7 February 1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was a leading ghost story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M. R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are Uncle Silas, Carmilla, and The House by the Churchyard.