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Uncle Silas: A Tale of Bartram-Haugh by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A classic Gothic novel of horror and mystery.

Maud Ruthyn, young and lonely in her father's home, is being prepared for her coming out in society by her sinister new governess.

When her father dies, her guardianship passes to her uncle Silas, whom she has never met. Intrigued and mystified by his past, while still bearing her grief, Maud moves to his home of Bartram-Haugh.

Unsettled and fragile, Maud is to soon find herself at the centre of conspiracies for claim of her fortune, her sanity and her life.

'Uncle Silas' is a gothic horror mystery novel by Irish author J. Sheridan Le Fanu, adapted from one of his own short stories, originally published in three volumes on 1864, following a serialisation in the Dublin University Magazine. It's a classic example of the gothic drama that became so popular during the Victorian era - featuring isolated and foreboding locations, family secrets, an atmosphere rife with claustrophobia, unease and mystery, a host of both sinister and eccentric characters, escalating threat - both of insanity and physical harm; and the looming spectre of death.

Narrated by Maud, we follow this time in her life, on the cusp of adulthood and beginning with her experience at the hands of her sinister governess Madame de la Rougierre, then followed by the death of her father and her being willed under the guardianship of her Uncle Silas, and ultimately her time at his home of Bartram-Haugh. Somewhat naive and knowing little of the world outside her childhood home, Maud is vulnerable to the influence of others. Throughout the entire narrative, unrealised by Maud herself, she is being subtly manipulated, suffering an insidious psychological abuse that ultimately culminates in a devious plot for murder.

Silas Ruthyn, the eponymous Uncle Silas, haunts the prose like a spectre. Even before we are aware of his influence, it is there, as he manipulates events from the wings. His presence lurks in the background of every chapter from that first introduction through Maud's fascination with his portrait and the mystery surrounding her estranged uncle. Almost vampiric in nature, he barely ventures from his rooms in his home; his self-imposed solitude, his illness and substance abuse rendering him a character of the shadows. Frequently acting through other characters, the true extent of his manipulation of Maud and others is only fully realised in the later chapters; yet, despite his frequent absence, he commands every scene in which he appears; reminiscent of a Shakespearean antagonist, Machiavellian in nature and having suffered a tragic fall from grace largely as a result of his own flaws.

Though Silas' villainy may largely lurk in the shadows (from Maud's perspective), Madame de la Rougierre is instantly sinister on her introduction in the early chapters. Like the witch of the fairy tale and the crone of folklore, she delights in her wickedness and exercising her power over Maud; always listening and plotting, always with an agenda, sometimes working with accomplices in her schemes. Maud's terror at Madame's villainy creeps into her psyche, haunting her even in her absence when she is dismissed by Maud’s father.

While parts of the first half may feel slow in places, this is one of those books where all becomes clear and each and every scene builds to those final moments. Like a gothic labyrinth, there are many clues and red herrings peppered throughout the plot - the locked room mystery is presented early, laced within the revelations on the dark family history that has left Silas in his self-imposed isolation. An early example of what would develop into the psychological thriller, the narrative focuses on Maud's thoughts and feelings and increasingly fragile mental state as twists and turns in the plot accelerate towards the final chapters, these climatic scenes brilliantly and vividly realised, the suspense having built to a fine point as we await the endgame to the nefarious scheme born of avarice.

The novel has been adapted for the screen four times - the earliest being a feature film in 1947. The latter three adaptations were for television: a British TV film in 1968; a German TV series in 1977; and a 1989 British TV series under the changed title 'The Dark Angel'.

Standing the test of time in its themes, plot and characters, 'Uncle Silas' is a Victorian Gothic classic and a significant ancestor of the gothic, horror and crime fiction we enjoy today.



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