The Novels of Sheridan Le Fanu Volume Two including complete and unabridged by Sheridan Le Fanu... 9781781394946

All three novels are of the genre quotSensation Novelquot which is a Victorian ancestor to the detective novel Crime is at the heart of the novels but there is no detective hero and the crime goes alongside the melodrama Checkmate involves selfinterest dishonesty deception revenge and murder From the beginning the reader knows there is something not right about a gentleman with impeccable credentials Eventually the plot is exposed and revenge is being played out as carefully as a game of chess Willing to Die was published after the authors death and like his other novels is distinguished by his able construction ingenuity of plot and power in the presentation of the mysterious and supernatural Uncle Silas is a terrifying book Young Maud is in trouble when her father dies and she is put into the care of her Uncle Silas She is a likable heroine in increasingly perilous situations leading to a hairraising climax All along the reader knows about the dangers and Maud doesnt leading to the reader experiencing high anxiety because of this knowledge Le Fanu brilliantly finds a way to show us and not show us the monster at the same time Read at your peril