The Woman with One Hand

by Richard Marsh

The Woman with One Hand by Richard Marsh , 1899.


Richard Marsh (1857 - 1915) was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle , which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular.
Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour.

68 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2012

About the author

Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle, which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular, outselling Dracula six times over. The Beetle remained in print until 1960. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour. Many of these have been republished recently, beginning with The Beetle in 2004. Marsh's grandson Robert Aickman was a notable writer of short "strange stories".

Reviews

[Rabecka · Rating 1 out of 5]

“The Woman With One Hand” is a very interesting myth. I thought that it was kind of hard to understand. In some parts you had to read it twice just to understand what the author was trying to say. I personally didn’t think this was the best thing I have read. There was some good parts, but it wasn’t my favorite.

In the beginning of this book, the sister had the choice of taking her either her father’s blessings or his property. She ended up taking her father's blessings and her brother chose his property. After her father died, the sister was left with nothing. All the village women thought it was horrible of the brother not to give his sister anything, so then he left her with her mother’s pot and pedestal. The village women agreed on trading her food for the use of the pot/pedestal. She then remembered that she had planted a pumpkin seed and ended up with a pumpkin patch. She could sell the pumpkins in order to buy food. Her brother cut off her right hand when she wouldn't agree to sell him a pumpkin. Later, she fell asleep in a apple tree and awoke to a prince. The prince was so awestruck by her beauty that they ended up marrying and having a baby. Her brother was angry that she was doing so well, so he told the king that she was a witch that killed all her husbands. The king was terrified and sent her away. While she was away, she helped out a snake and in return that snake gave her a home to stay at. On their voyage there, they took a bath in a river. The sister starting panicking when she realized she lost her baby. She later then regained her right hand by putting both her hands in the water when she was looking for her baby. The woman stayed with the snake for awhile until she decided it was time to go home. When she got back, the prince accepted her with open arms.

The two main characters of this book were the sister and the brother. The sister was a very kind and accepting young woman. She was very generous and intelligent. The other main character was the brother. He was very sneaky and selfish. He really did not want his sister to go far in life. When he heard she was, he made up a lie in order to ruin that. The minor characters of this book were the snake, the king/queen, and the prince. The snake was very true to his word. The king and queen were very gullible and accepting. The prince was very loving and kind.

This myth look place long ago in a small village. The village had many trees and that;s where the sister would sleep. It had many small huts where people would live, and a river where some people would bathe. It was a very cozy and comforting place. All the village women who lived there were very kind.


I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read to younger kids. I think the younger kids would definitely enjoy this myth and the idea of it. Besides that, I would recommend this book to any gender of any age if you like the idea of how something was created, or if you like myths.

[Lorelei Ponto · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the story “the woman with one hand” there was a king who had a son and a daughter. The king would give both of his children a gift of either property or blessing.

I am very happy about how this story ended. The woman got her hand back and married a prince, which was one of the biggest and best highlights of this story. The woman choose the blessing, and because of that she is living a wonderful life. The main point in this story is that blessing is much better than property, you should always take something meaningful instead of just objects. I believe that is a huge lesson that is learned. You can choose to have everything, but blessing will actually give you everything you need and so much more.

The woman took the blessing and the brother took the property. And they were gifted with these after their mother passed. After the mother died the brother took all of the property. I think that it was very rude of him to take everything from his sister. His sister was left with nothing except for a morale and pestle in which he later took away from her. The woman found a pumpkin seed that was left in the remains of the house, that she used to grow a pumpkin patch and she used it as both food for herself and to sell to others to make money.

The brother’s wife bought last pumpkins that she had and loved it. Later on she wanted more pumpkins, but it was past pumpkin season and there was none left. Since the woman could not give her sister-in-law a pumpkin, her brother comes to her and slices her hand off. I think that this is a very cruel thing to do because his sister couldn't do anything about it. I believe that the woman had the right to keep anything she does have after he took everything and left her with nothing.

I like that this book is told in the older time setting. It took place in city of Kilwa in Tanzania. This time period shows just how people acted from that time period which i enjoy. The place in this story really plays into what happens in this book, that would not be tolerated in our time period.

I would recommend that an adult or young adult read this book. I wouldn't recommend that children read this book, unless if they have a adult explain it to them.

[TRENA]

I enjoyed this story because it was very interesting. And no matter how much the woman's brother brought her down she always had a plan or someway to get right back up.

In the story “The Woman With One Hand” A woman and her brother have to chose between property or blessing,because there father is dying. The woman chooses blessing and the brother chooses property. The brother leaves the woman with nothing but a pot. The woman finds a pumpkin seed, but later the brother finds out and chops her hand off. So she goes into the forest looking for food and shelter, instead she finds a prince who she then marries and has a child with. Once the brother finds this out he goes to the castle saying the woman is a witch, getting her kicked out. While the sister is looking for a place to stay she finds a snake who gives her a ring. She goes back to the castle and explains everything. The prince then asks the woman what she would like her brothers punishment to be and she says she would like him to be sent away from the capital.


There are three major characters. The first one is the woman,because she is the one that everything is happening to. The second one is the brother, because he is making his sisters life hard because she chose blessing. The third one is the snake she meets,because he takes her to his family to be taken care of and his father gives the woman a ring that makes anything she needs pop up.


The story took place in 1975, in the city of kilwa in tanzania. It also takes place in a small town where the woman lives and in the castle when she marries the prince.


I would recommend this book to teenagers,because they will understand the meaning that comes with the story.

[J. Rubino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work by Richard Marsh (The Beetle) combines two, unrelated short novels. In The Woman With One Hand, a young man named James Southam, down to his last eleven pence sees an advertisement posted by two solicitors who are seeking James Southam. When he arrives at their offices, he is told that an anonymous client is prepared to make an offer to his advantage; and until his identity can be verified he will be put up in a private hotel. Southam agrees to the terms because "when the sum of elevenpence stand between a man and starvation he is apt not to be over particular..." What follows is standard Marsh - a shady hotelier who also claims to be James Southam, his terrified wife, another peculiar hotel guest (the woman with one hand) and a rather rushed ending that involves jewel theft. Though the plot just barely holds together, it also held my interest, and I do appreciate Marsh's skill in portraying those down on their luck, and his gift for wry humor.
These qualities are also in the forefront of Mr. Ely's Engagement. Mr. John Ash is frustrated with the task of caring for his ward, Lily Truscott, so when a business associate, Frederick Ely decides he ought to marry, Ash encourages him to propose to Lily. Lily, in a rash moment accepts him, only to break the engagement the next day when a former love returns to ask for her hand. Ely resists Miss Truscott's rejection, even as an acquaintance, Rosenbaum, attempts to have Ely take one of his six daughters off his hands. No supernatural elements or dramatic suspense, just a comedy of error and conceit, an underrated sample of Marsh's knack for the absurd.

[Jake Handrich · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the book "The Woman with One Hand" by Richard Marsh, because it was boring and pointless. The book was about a young girl and boy who lost their parents, when their parents died they were told to pick between property and their blessing. The brother picked the property while the sister picked the blessing. The brother left his sister with nothing, She went in the woods where she found a house, in the house was a pumpkin seed. She grew pumpkins and sold them to her sister-in-law who came to buy all of the pumpkins. Later she wanted to buy more but she couldn't because she already bought them all. So her brother came and chopped off her hand.

The main characters are the brother and sister. They are both big parts in the story because they have two different wishes on what they want.

The book takes place in the past in 1975 in the city called Kilwa. The people there help her in the beginning get over her hard times. Later in the book it moves to the woods where she finds the castle. The book became interesting when she finds the castle.

I think this is a challenging short story to read, because it is hard to keep up with the two characters and what is going on. I would recommend this book to eighth grade and up because some of the humor is more for older kids. Both girls and boys could read it though because the main characters are a girl and boy.