Product Description

Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) is best known for her historical novels. But there is a darker side to her writing, glimpsed in her early poems 'The Second of September 1792' is a fine example and finding full expression in the stories she wrote after she had become a highly successful novelist. Sometimes as in 'The Window or The Pestering', or 'All Soul's Day' these are what we might call explainable ghost stories: apparitions or hauntings whose origin is to be found in some violent or unjust action in the past. Other stories, 'Couching at the Door' and 'From the Abyss', have little or no explanation, even in supernatural terms. Add to these an elegant reworking of the Persephone myth, 'The Taste of Pomegranates', the downright bloodthirsty 'Clairvoyance', and the psychological studies, 'The Promised Land' and 'The Pavement' which so well merit the heading Madness and Obsession, and you have a collection to disturb and unsettle the strongest nerves.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129339 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

Vastly under-rated writer of the macabre...
The lack of high regard for D.K. Broster's supernatural writings is an enigma. I suppose during the hey-dey of the ghost story, many women writers were overlooked due to the politics of the time. Whilst today women writers in this tradition are only celebrated if their stories ramble on about how oppressed women are for 30 pages (again, politics of the time). More's the pity, for their is some truly great material here.

D.K. Broster's supernatural tales are very eclectic in style. The title story, about an artist who's suffering demonic visitations by some slug-like creature recalls some of Sheridan Le Fanu's finest works, especially 'Green Tea' and 'The Familiar'. 'From The Abyss' on the other hand, is a very subtle tale of doubling, which has strong shades of Henry James about it. There's a good balance between the traditional and the psychological in this book, all of which make for great winter reading (preferably, of course, by a roaring fire).

Broster's prose is void of the banal simplicity of most 20th century fiction and her sentences are a joy to read. Her style feels much closer to that of the Victorian period that typical post-war literature, making it all the more enjoyable. Some of her stories have quite clear points to them, others are far more ambiguous and uncertain, which means 'Couching At The Door' has a wide range of appeal.

All in all, I'd say D.K. Broster is one of the greatest rare gems. Her stories linger in your mind for a long-time afterward due to the unanswered questions they pose, and their psychological intrigue. For £2.99 you can't go wrong with this.