jeathhp's review against another edition
5.0
WOW.
How is this little gem not up there with Dracula and Turn of the Screw in popularity? This is brilliant. Stella, our narrator, is from the get-go, a psychological mess full of envy, jealousy and low self-esteem, pushing people away. She attaches herself to Evelyn, who is beautiful, refined, lovely, patient, and apparently devoted to Stella despite her perverseness. All seems well until Hugh comes into the picture and Stella perceives that it is inevitable that Hugh will marry Evelyn and take her only friend from her.
With this unreliable narrator, it is hard to know what is truth and what is madness in what follows. According to Stella, she finds Evelyn undeniably dead. She prays to God to revive her, but when that doesn't have any effect, she prays to "whatever power there might be--good or evil, angel or devil, on earth or in hell" and shortly afterward, Evelyn flutters back to life. The question then becomes, but is it really Evelyn, or has some wandering, wicked spirit answered the prayer and taken possession of Evelyn's body?
Published in 1896, this short story of 103 pages is gripping and fresh, a terrific gothic horror. Included in this volume is the play version of the story plus the draft for another version of the story. A pity five stars is the max. I'd give it more if I could.
How is this little gem not up there with Dracula and Turn of the Screw in popularity? This is brilliant. Stella, our narrator, is from the get-go, a psychological mess full of envy, jealousy and low self-esteem, pushing people away. She attaches herself to Evelyn, who is beautiful, refined, lovely, patient, and apparently devoted to Stella despite her perverseness. All seems well until Hugh comes into the picture and Stella perceives that it is inevitable that Hugh will marry Evelyn and take her only friend from her.
With this unreliable narrator, it is hard to know what is truth and what is madness in what follows. According to Stella, she finds Evelyn undeniably dead. She prays to God to revive her, but when that doesn't have any effect, she prays to "whatever power there might be--good or evil, angel or devil, on earth or in hell" and shortly afterward, Evelyn flutters back to life. The question then becomes, but is it really Evelyn, or has some wandering, wicked spirit answered the prayer and taken possession of Evelyn's body?
Published in 1896, this short story of 103 pages is gripping and fresh, a terrific gothic horror. Included in this volume is the play version of the story plus the draft for another version of the story. A pity five stars is the max. I'd give it more if I could.
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