No, Seriously, I Have to Stop Surfing the Internet
Posted 25 July 2008 in Books by Catriona
Because otherwise I really am going to bankrupt myself.
This time I’ve come across the small, independent publisher Valancourt Books.
They operate out of Kansas City (oh, bless you, Internet. I love you, and don’t pay any attention to the title of this post; I will not abandon you) and they specialise in late-eighteenth and early nineteenth century novels, especially Gothic works.
I haven’t steeled myself to actually buy anything yet, but I have made a list.
Seriously, who could resist these titles?
There’s The Fate of Fenella (1892). The title alone would be enough to make me buy this book but, in addition to that, each chapter was written (without seeing the other chapters) by a different author, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Frances Eleanor Trollope, ‘Tasma,’ and George Manville Fenn.
Or maybe Miss Cayley’s Adventures (1899) by Grant Allen, which is one of the earliest female-detective novels (although the earliest examples appeared in the 1860s, and the first professional female detective, Loveday Brooke, appeared in 1894).
Or The Datchett Diamonds (1898) by Richard Marsh, another early detective novel, and one republished with a stunning cover based on an early edition.
Or The Necromancer (1851-1852) by George William Macarthur Reynolds. Seriously, this book has a beautiful woman with a deadly secret, a ruined castle whose walls conceal terrible secrets, a mysterious chamber emblazoned—literally, in “letters of fire”—with the names of ill-fated women, and, best of all, a cover illustration of a skeleton who appears to be playing the violin.
Or The Magic Ring (1825) by Baron de lat Motte Forque: an influence on Tolkien, this one draws on Germanic folktales, Icelandic sagas, Arthurian romance, and Gothic horror. As for the plot, I think I should let the website speak for itself on that one:
It is the twelfth century, the era of Richard the Lion-heart and the Third Crusade. Along the Danube, the tranquil world shared by the young squire Otto and his cousin Bertha is changed forever when they witness a knightly contest for possession of a magic ring. Soon both are drawn into a quest that transforms them and endangers all they love. The resulting adventures lead each to different paths of enchantment and peril, from the mysteries of Moorish Spain to the birthplace of Norse mythology. While navigating an ever-changing sea of allies and foes, both natural and magical, the two seek love, honor, survival, and a ring that possesses more power than either can possibly understand.
Whichever other books I have to forgo, I’m definitely buying that one.
Share your thoughts [3]
1
Matthew Smith wrote at Jul 28, 01:34 am
They look pretty cool but I always worry that the writing style won’t hold my interest since I’m spoiled with the fast-paced dumbed-down advances of the 20th century.
2
Catriona wrote at Jul 28, 06:15 am
Now that’s not true. Did you or did you not read all of Ovid?
Plus, some nineteenth-century tuff is extremely fast paced, especially the sensation novels (Braddon’s very good at this, so Lady Audley’s Secret and Aurora Floyd are quite zippy. Wilkie Collins, too, but only intermittently: I’ll admit that The Woman in White drags a little in parts.)
3
Matthew Smith wrote at Jul 29, 11:39 pm
Ovid was good … yeah.
Isn’t it weird that you reminded me of that book and now I’m kind of reeling back through all the “wow” moments that I had forgotten about. That’s because it is so dense that you can’t take it all in. Because it’s really a lot of different stories all told back to back so that you don’t get the pause of reflection between each one.