Showing results by author "Margaret Oliphant" in All Categories

Margaret Oliphant Wilson was born on 4th April 1828 in East Lothian in Scotland but spent her childhood in Midlothian, Glasgow and Liverpool. She wrote from a young age and in 1849 had her first novel about the Scottish Free Church movement, a cause her parents sympathized with, published. Her next, ‘Caleb Field’, a couple of years later, led to a lifelong association with Blackwood Magazine to which she contributed more than a 100 articles and reviews.

Celebrate Halloween with four enduring masterpieces of classic supernatural fiction, brought together in one atmospheric audiobook collection. Journey down lonely roads where a mysterious coach carries passengers through the night, spend an uneasy evening aboard a ship with a cabin no one can...

Three BBC radio adaptations of famous novels by the prolific 19th-century author Mrs Oliphant - plus an episode of Reading Aloud, with extracts from her autobiography. Sometimes called ‘the feminist Trollope’, Margaret Oliphant wrote more than 100 works of fiction in a wide variety of genres, ranging from novels of small-town life to historical tales and supernatural stories. Included here are three of her best-loved works, brimming with dry wit, perceptive irony and flawed but fascinating heroines.

'The Library Window' is a ghost story. A young girl, visiting her aunt in Scotland, finds herself increasingly intrigued by a mysterious window in the house opposite her own favourite window, where she sits to read. There seems to be a local mystery about the window, including a dispute about whether there is even a window there at all. Increasingly this doubt seems odd to the girl as the days go by, as she can see into the room opposite and make out furniture and objects there. Then one day she sees someone in that room....

Explore the intricate tapestry of contemporary life as we delve into the themes of identity, belonging, and familial ties in "Hester: A Story of Contemporary Life, Volume 3." This podcast invites listeners to engage with the complexities of personal relationships and societal expectations, as Hester navigates her unique position within her family and the world around her. Each episode features a new complete audiobook, offering a rotating collection of narratives that reflect on the challenges and triumphs of modern existence. This is not a single story but a series of unique explorations that...

Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

Hester (1883) is a dramatic story of female power and family tensions within Victorian society. Using her own money, Catherine Vernon manages to save the family bank from collapse after her cousin John absconds with some of its money. As the matriarch of Redborough, Catherine is used to commanding authority, but this is challenged with the arrival of John’s strong and capable teenage daughter, Hester. Ignorant of her father’s conduct, Hester takes against Catherine and a mutual antipathy soon sets in. A masterpiece of domestic realism, the novel is one of Mrs Oliphant’s most admired works.

Una stanza nascosta all'interno di un misterioso castello dalla forma tentacolare; una ragazza bellissima, apparsa dal nulla e impossibile da toccare; uno spirito misterioso che si manifesta nelle rovine di un vecchio maniero. Giocando sul contrasto tra la paura e il fascino dell'ignoto, in questa raccolta di racconti horror Margaret Oliphant sfrutta gli schemi classici del genere gotico in maniera innovativa, arricchendoli di descrizioni realistiche e suggestive che gettano il lettore al centro della storia, davanti al confine che separa sanità e follia.

Nessuno sa quando sia iniziata di preciso la leggenda della stanza segreta nel castello di Gowrie, eppure tutti la conoscono. Dopotutto, vista la forma irregolare del castello, le sue grandi dimensioni e la disposizione tentacolare degli alloggi, l'esistenza di una stanza del genere non sarebbe poi così improbabile, oltre che facile da nascondere. Si dice però che nessuno tranne il conte, il suo erede e un estraneo fidato ne conoscano la posizione.

Quest'anno i festeggiamenti di Natale nella casa di campagna dei Daintrey sono miti e contenuti, smorzati dalla tristezza per la recente morte del figlio maggiore di Sir Robert e Lady Beresford. Sono presenti solo amici intimi e parenti, incluso il giovane Edmond Coventry, guardia di Sir Robert. Un giardinetto recintato con al centro una grande urna collega il vialetto attorno alla casa; ed è nel giardino che Edmond incontra una bellissima ragazza vestita di bianco, che smuove il suo cuore come nessuna ha mai fatto prima. 

Mortimer è un padre che ha portato la sua famiglia a vivere in un vecchio maniero scozzese. Un giorno, nelle vecchie rovine abbandonate di fianco alla casa, suo figlio inizia a sentire delle voci misteriose e subito dopo si ammala gravemente. Eppure il bambino non ha paura: piuttosto prova un enorme dolore per quell'apparizione, e disperato chiede al padre di risolvere il mistero e aiutare l'anima perduta a ritrovare la via.

Step within The Mrs Oliphant Library, where the lamp is lit, the curtains drawn, and the quiet voices of another century begin again. Here are novels of households and hearts, of provincial streets and church spires, of women’s wit, sorrow, duty, and courage; stories in which the ordinary parlour may open, almost unawares, upon the unseen. Each book is read in full, for those who love Victorian fiction in all its tenderness, irony, mystery, and truth.

To the despair of his widowed mother, Walter Methven is a carefree young man with no annoying ambition and a circle of dubious friends. This changes when to his great surprise he learns he has succeeded to the title of his little known relative Lore Erradeen. He vows to put aside his aimless past and do some real good in his new position. One condition of inheriting the title is to spend several days each year on Loch Houran in the West Highlands, at the ancient castle of the Warlock Lord of Erradeen, an evil man who some believe still exerts his power over each Lord Erradeen in turn. This ...

To the despair of his widowed mother, Walter Methven is a carefree young man with no annoying ambition and a circle of dubious friends. In Volume 1 this changes when to his great surprise he learns he has succeeded to the title of his little known relative Lore Erradeen. He vows to put aside his aimless past and do some real good in his new position. One condition of inheriting the title is to spend several days each year on Loch Houran in the West Highlands, at the ancient castle of the Warlock Lord of Erradeen, an evil man who some believe still exerts his power over each Lord Erradeen in ...

To the despair of his widowed mother, Walter Methven is a carefree young man with no annoying ambition and a circle of dubious friends. In Volume 1 this changes when to his great surprise he learns he has succeeded to the title of his little known relative Lore Erradeen. He vows to put aside his aimless past and do some real good in his new position. One condition of inheriting the title is to spend several days each year on Loch Houran in the West Highlands, at the ancient castle of the Warlock Lord of Erradeen, an evil man who some believe still exerts his power over each Lord Erradeen in ...

Catherine Vernon has a firm hand on her family and on the family business. Her plans for her young protege Edward, whom she loves like a son, are disturbed by the arrival of Hester, a 14-year-old girl who is just as strong willed. The conflict between Catherine and Hester is resolved through their mutual love for Edward. On one level a love story, Hester is unusual for its time in its portrayal of women in business. - Summary by Anne Erickson

Betrothed to one woman but married to another whose heart will be broken. Summary by Michele Eaton

Catherine Vernon has a firm hand on her family and on the family business. Her plans for her young protege Edward, whom she loves like a son, are disturbed by the arrival of Hester, a 14-year-old girl who is just as strong willed. The conflict between Catherine and Hester is resolved through their mutual love for Edward. On one level a love story, Hester is unusual for its time in its portrayal of women in business. - Summary by Anne Erickson

Edgar faces a crisis and must swallow his pride. Should he ask Lord Newmarch for a job? And what of his planned proposal to his beloved Gussy? In a flash, his plans... his life... have been turned upside down.

With the talents on display the most difficult task is choosing only ten. Their virtuosity, their craft and ambition scare belie the difficulties that society places upon most women. Their words cannot be denied, their literary heritage is safe forever.