Review -'The Face in the Glass'

               'The Gothic Tales of Mary Elizabeth Braddon'

This 2014 collection was edited with an introduction by Greg Buzwell, as part of the British Library 'Tales of the Weird' series, and contains fourteen short stories that originally appeared in various periodicals from 1860-1907. Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915) is still most known for one of her first published novel Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which  made a vital contribution to the 'Sensation novels' genre,was extremely popular and arguably has overshadowed, her huge body of work: Some 90 novels, countless short stories, not  always submitted to magazines in her own name. Braddon scholars are still trying to trace all her work,quite a formidable task. CARNELL & ASSOCIATION

'Sensation novels' tend to emphasise frightful human behaviour, scandal, far fetched coincidence, often with an amateur detective, and crumbling country house, preferably a mansion.But not afraid to entertain, there is little or no 'social concern' expressed as such. Braddon's parents defied their middle class background by separating when she was young. At the age of 17 or 18 Braddon became an actress, but by 1860 was able to write professionally, and started an intimate relationship with her publisher, John Maxwell, who already had five children, and a wife who had been committed to an asylum in Dublin. The couple lived openly together and started having children of their own. When Mrs Maxwell, died, they married in 1874. Mary Braddon's income from writing and editing the magazines Belgravia and Belgravia Annual. In 1878 Braddon started editing a Christmas annual titled The Mistletoe Bough ASSOCIATION and it was her work that seemed to keep the family afloat financially. 

So Mary Braddon was not afraid to feature female characters who defied convention, nor was she afraid to write for a growing market of readers to survive financially. Such a stance would arguably have had an impact on female readers. O'TOOLE Moreover, the notion of a female author portraying male characters behaving badly was not always favoured in the 19th century. Certainly Anne Bronte's portrayal  of the drunken scoundrel of a husband, Arthur Huntingdon, in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, was not favoured by many critics when it appeared in 1848. 

The last tale of the collection, Good Lady Ducayne,(1896) has been covered already in this blog, a strange hybrid featuring an  early Vampire tale crossed with Sci Fi -a classic .Set partly in Italy. The Island of Old Faces (1892)  is superb, a chap recovering from a breakdown agrees to spend a night on a supposedly uninhabited island. He visits some sort of underworld, maybe experiencing an inner journey, or a different reality where he converses with the dead. Three Times (1872) concerns a lion-tamer performing in provincial Victorian theatres, who finds that he is being stalked by a sinister audience member who seems to have an erotic or perhaps a sadistic obsession with him. Predictable outcome but very disturbing nevertheless. 

The Higher Life(1894) is another classic. A learned fellow who has become obsessed by a drive toward self perfection and spiritual enlightenment,but neglects compassion. The part where he is dying but conscious enough to be aware of his end, perched ready to be rushed into the next life, is awesome. Makes the reader aware of their own mortality.  

Onto The Face in the Glass (1894), with a couple moving into an old country mansion with too many rooms, sharing a property with a ghost. They are sceptical but a ghost-hunt begins. Intriguing as I have been trying to work out when references to ghost-hunting, as opposed to seances and other consultations with mediums, started. Seems that the first references to ghost- hunting  in British publications occurred in the 1850's: Harriet Martineau in her Guide to the Lake District  (1858) referred to suitable locations suggesting that ghost-hunting was becoming a leisure activity CLARKE, whilst The British Spiritual Telegraph featured a piece about 'Mr Dickens and his friends going ghost-hunting' in 1859.

At Chrighton Abbey (1871)  covers hunting accidents and trauma, with some sort of rudimentary telepathy -most interesting. The Cold Embrace (1860)   has been compared to Edgar Alan Poe, a doomed dead ex lover seeks revenge on the individual who jilted them, set in Germany of a century or two before. The Shadow in the Corner (1879)   is bleak, featuring suicide after a maid is ordered to sleep  in a room which is haunted. My Wife's Promise (1871)  is strangely moving, seems inspired by the doomed Sir John Franklin Arctic  mission of 1845.

Overall, a well chosen selection of the more haunting and disturbing tales written by a sadly neglected writer. For the sake of brevity, I have not discussed every single story, but this books is an essential collection for anyone interested in Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

Audio -Mary Elizabeth Braddon Tales

The Cold Embrace   Read by Tony Walker, 'Classic Ghost Stories' podcast.

Good Lady Ducayne Read by Tony Walker, 'Classic Ghost Stories' podcast.

The Shadow in the Corner Read by Tony Walker, 'Classic Ghost Stories' podcast.

Books 

'Vixen'  by Mary E.Braddon - introduction by Fion O' TOOLE, Alan Sutton Publishing Pocket Classics edition, 1993

'A Natural History of Ghosts-500 years of Hunting for Proof', Roger CLARKE, Penguin Books, 1912. 

From the Web 

The British Library online shop   For 'Tales of the Weird' series and more short story  collections

Mary Elizabeth Association  The ASSOCIATION website features both past and current research on the life and work of the author. 

Web article The Literary Lives of Mary Elizabeth Braddon  by Jennifer CARNELL is a vital guide to author's life and work. 

Previous Mary Elizabeth Braddon posts from this blog 

Lady Audley's Secret

Good Lady Ducayne  

Picture Credit 

Valkyrie and Raven, 1862, wood-engraving by Joseph Swain. In the public domain courtesy of 'Wikipedia'. 

Final Note 

I am grateful to note that this blog receives visitors from all over the world. Appreciate your interest and hope that you are staying safe during these turbulent times. 

As always ,any mistakes or schoolboy howlers found in this post are mine to own and are no reflection on anyone else's work that I have cited. 

Michael Bleak, 

Brighton, 

16th September 2024

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