Victorians! discussion

As noted in the nomination thread for Spring 2024, we have a small block of time between Wives and Daughters and Barnaby Rudge.

Since we also had a nomination for a collection of stories which can be a little hard to find, we decided to devote this time to read some of those stories which are relatively easy to access.

The nominated collection is The Phantom Coach: Collected Ghost Stories by Amelia B. Edwards. It was published in 1999, and was boasted as being the “first book to collect together all of Amelia B. Edwards's supernatural fiction.”

Known in her time, both for her ghost stories and her travel writings, Edwards is a fascinating new addition to our pantheon of Victorian writers.

My plan is to do a story or two per week between September 1 through October 12. (Since the Barnaby Rudge Read is currently scheduled to start in October 13.)

I do not have a schedule of which stories will be covered each week. I plan to start with “The Phantom Coach” and “The Four-Fifteen Express” and then see how it goes.

With each story, I’ll include whatever links we find to online resources. You can read along with me, or pick and choose as you have opportunity.

Commentary is, of course, encouraged. :)

I managed to download the text file of ‘The Phantom Coach and other Stories’

from the Gutenberg Australia website here….

http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m...

to my Ipad and then send it to my Kindle using the Kindle App.

Nice! I’m glad to know that worked.

Stories planned to date:

•The Phantom Coach
•The Four-Fifteen Express
•An Engineer’s Story
•Was it an Illusion?
• In the Confessional
•The Story of Salome
•A New Pass
•A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest

I don't know if anyone is interested in continuing through all the stories listed in this collected edition, but I found an ePub download that someone compiled of just about all of them from the public domain and called it Borders of the Night (I found it on mobile read . com. Goodreads gave me an error message when I tried to link it but it should be easy to look up.)

I'm just so taken with her writing prowess that I knew after we completed these seven I was going to want to read them all. Read "My Brother's Ghost Story" last night and it did not disappoint!

I’m so glad to hear that you’re continuing with this author, Lauren. If you get interest from other members, I’d be happy to set up a Buddy Read so your group can continue the discussion, if you’d like.

Lady Clementina found a lovely link to Amelia Edwards in The Internet Archive. There is a 3 volume collection called Monsieur Maurice, and Other Tales. I’ve created a rough Table of Contents for accessing stories and links below. :)

Monsieur Maurice V1: https://archive.org/details/monsieurm...
-Monsieur Maurice, p. 12
-Vendetta, p. 174 (161)
-An Engineer’s Story, p. 246
-The Cabaret of the Break of Day, p. 296 (283)

Monsieur Maurice V2: https://archive.org/details/monsieurm...
-The Story of Ernst Christian Schoffer, p. 12
-The New Pass, p. 75 (67)
-A Service of Danger, p. 113
-A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest, p. 164 (147)
-The Story of Salome, p. 222
-In the Confessional, p. 276

Monsieur Maurice V3: https://archive.org/details/monsieurm...
-Tragedy in the Palazzo Bardello, p. 10
-Four-Fifteen Express, p. 76
-Sister Johanna’s Story, p. 150 (137)
-All Saints Eve, p. 184 (171)

(The numbers in parentheses are those of the original paper documents.)

So awesome, thank you Lady Clementina for that detective work! There's a few there that aren't in the book I found, look forward to those bonuses.

Honestly, I'm so sold on this author, I'm crushing through the rest of the short stories (save the last two we'll be getting to).

I can't remember the last author I read that had such a command - not only of language - but of descriptive powers which paint such a clear image without being excessive to the point of chancing boredom. Her character's conversations are so deft, layered, & brisk, I'm in awe.

Thanks again for digging up this author, I plan on picking up a novel of hers next.

I can take no credit for discovering Amelia Edwards. A member nominated her short story collection for a Group Read. We put her aside at that time because I was unsure if her works would be accessible enough for most of our members. Hence, all the research. But it has really been paying off. Like you, I am truly enjoying these stories. :)

I’m hoping to indulge in one of her travel memoirs in 2025. It’s my understanding that Elizabeth Peters named her delightful Egyptologist sleuth, Amelia Peabody, after Edwards. I can’t wait to read about the real woman behind the homage!

I just realized that I never posted any background information on Edwards; I just jumped right into the stories. That was Remus, because she was really quite something. Here’s a bit from Wikipedia…

“Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (7 June 1831 – 15 April 1892), also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her literary successes included the ghost story The Phantom Coach (1864), the novels Barbara's History (1864) and Lord Brackenbury(1880), and the travelogue of Egypt A Thousand Miles up the Nile(1877). She also edited a poetry anthology published in 1878.
In 1882, she co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund. She gained the nickname "Godmother of Egyptology" for her contribution.

…Fiction

Early in the 1850s, Edwards began to focus more exclusively on being a writer. Her first full-length novel was My Brother's Wife (1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was Barbara's History (1864), a novel involving bigamy, that established her reputation. She spent much time and effort on the settings and backgrounds of her books, estimating that it took her about two years to complete the research and writing of each. This paid off when her last novel, Lord Brackenbury(1880), went into several editions.
Edwards wrote several ghost stories, including "The Phantom Coach" (1864), which frequently appears in anthologies. The background and characters in many of her writings are influenced by personal experiences. For example, Barbara's History (1864) uses Suffolk as the background, which she had visited for a few enjoyable summer holidays as a child.”

There’s quite a bit more so I’ll link the article below. I think it’s such a shame that we don’t hear more about her. I’ve really enjoyed reading her ghost stories over these last few weeks.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_...

Renee wrote: "Stories planned to date:

•The Phantom Coach
•The Four-Fifteen Express
•An Engineer’s Story
•Was it an Illusion?
• In the Confessional
•The Story of Salome
•A New Pass
•A Night on the Borders ..."

I’m going to stop with the eight stories listed in Message 5 of this thread. I want a little time to get ready for the upcoming Group Read of Barnaby Rudge, about which I’m very excited. This folder will remain open for anyone who hasn’t yet had the chance to read these stories yet. I couldn’t be more pleased to have discovered Amelia Edwards through this group.

Thank you to everyone who participated. I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts.

Renee wrote: "I couldn’t be more pleased to have discovered Amelia Edwards through this group”


I agree with you Renee.

I have read In the Days of My Youth, one of her full length novels, alongside the short stories we have been reading. I enjoyed it. It was humorous and heavy on description but still had a well crafted plot weaving through it. Other novels of hers are harder to find or come as not very good quality e books. I will keep on looking because it will be worthwhile to find more.

Thank you for the recommendation, Trev. I’ll look for that one.