Mystery and Crime Bowen, Marjorie: The Spectral Bride. v1. 21 Jan 2023

[GrannyGrump]

Bowen’s writings present recurring themes of darkness, the supernatural, and the gothic in combination with the historical. Her “Shearing” novels (such as this one), while based on true crime, still retain sinister gothic undertones.
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Here is a tale of blackmail, murder, madness, and those doomed to repeat the crimes of their forefathers.

“Was lovely Adelaide Fenton a simple country girl, or was she the pale shadow of another maiden who had met violent death many years before? Was handsome James Daintry, the last Earl of the Seagroves, a fanciful young man, or the final victim of a legendary specter which had taken its toll in madness and sorrow? Was it the power of love which drew them together, or were they caught in a darker pattern -- cursed for a crime they did not commit, reliving a tale they scarcely knew?”
(—Publisher’s summary)

Appendix has been added to present the essay that inspired this book.

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Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (née Campbell; 1 November 1885 – 23 December 1952) was a British author who wrote historical romances, supernatural horror stories, popular history and biography. Her total output numbers over 150 volumes, with the bulk of her work under the pseudonym “Marjorie Bowen”, the name she is mostly known by. She also wrote under the names Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, John Winch, Robert Paye and Margaret Campbell.

Bowen’s books are much sought after by aficionados of gothic horror, and received praise from many critics. Several of her novels were adapted for film.

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The Spectral Bride (titled “The Fetch” in some editions) was first published in 1942. The essay “The Ambiguities of Miss Smith” is taken from The Fatal Countess and other Studies by William Roughead (1870-1952), published in 1924.
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