The Victorian Chaise-Longue is a short little tale of the macabre in honor of the season. Its plot is simple.
Wealthy Melanie Langdon is recovering from tuberculosis, complicated by recent child birth. When she is finally recovered enough, she is carried to lie on a Victorian chaise-longue that she bought in an antique store. There she falls asleep.
When Melanie awakens, she has returned to Victorian times and is locked in a Victorian body. When she is alarmed at her situation, she is thought to be hysterical.
I did not find the novel terrifying, but perhaps that is my own lack of imagination. I felt I needed to care for the character more before she was put in her dilemma. I understand from the introduction that Laski moved to a remote house to induce in herself a sense of fear, just to write this novel.
This is the final book I read for the R.I.P. challenge. Happy Halloween!
Maybe Laski didn’t move to a remote enough place… 🙂 Too bad this one didn’t work out for you.
I think it’s very hard to make a book scary. The gothic writers seem to me less successful at it than some modern suspense writers.
I read this a few years ago and thought it was an interesting read. I would describe it as unsettling rather than terrifying.
That’s a good description.