The Wyvern Mystery

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

"[Le Fanu] succeeds in inspiring a mysterious terror better than any other writer." — M. R. James.
A beautiful heroine marries the heir to a local estate — but what sounds like a happy ending is just the beginning of a chilling and suspenseful thriller. Set in rural England of the 1820s, The Wyvern Mystery takes its title from ancient myth, in which a two-legged dragon called the "wyvern" signifies the truly sinister. Dark hints of the supernatural permeate this 1869 horror classic, which unfolds inside a haunted mansion, where a young bride is imperiled not only by family secrets from the past but also by evil machinations of the present.
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (pronounced Leff-anew) was known as "the Dark Prince" by a wide circle of avid readers during his heyday in the late nineteenth century. The Victorian equivalent of Stephen King, Le Fanu created a compelling series of Gothic novels and ghost stories that Henry James characterized as "the ideal reading in a country house for the hours after midnight."

Genres: Gothic, Classics, Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Victorian, Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1869

About the author

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M.R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are Uncle Silas, Carmilla and The House by the Churchyard.

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aq3l...

Naomi Watts, Derek Jacobi, Iain Glen, Jack Davenport

Description: The Wyvern Mystery combines all the elements of nail-biting horror, romantic fairy tale, psychological thriller and rich period drama to create a compelling story. When young Alice Maybell is orphaned she is taken in by Squire Fairfield, a widower with two dashing sons, Charles and Harry. As Alice blossoms into a beautiful young woman she attracts the attentions of not one but two of the men she lives with. The blissful happiness that ensues, however, is short-lived as she finds herself embroiled in the dark secrets of the Fairfield family's past and the evil ambitions of its present.In a world that is nightmarish and malevolent, nothing and no one is quite what they seem. What is the dark secret in Charles Fairfield's past? Who - or what - is the malignant presence that haunts Carwell Grange?

Bugger me backwards in an old tin can if this is not almost Jane Eyre revisited!

Jane Eyre 1847
The Wyvern Mystery 1869

Either way, this was a hot damn great dramatisation.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 of 5

Rife with Victorian Era mystery and intrigue, The Wyvern Mystery was my first encounter with J.S. Le Fanu, and I dug it.

There were times Le Fanu had me on the edge of my seat and other times laughing out loud, but always wondering what would happen to Alice. All the trappings of a soap opera - secret affairs, greed, betrayal, murder - yet written with such style and skill that I don't feel the least bit guilty for having enjoyed the melodramatic ride.

And what a ride it was; I thought for sure I'd solved the mystery at least three times only to have the next chapter ruin my prediction. Oh, and the foreboding, brilliant! I was so dang worried for Alice and at the same time more than a little peeved with her for being totally naive and oblivious; it was simultaneously exciting and nerve-racking.

My only complaint, if I were forced to make one, would be the story's pace. It definitely could've moved faster in certain areas; however, maybe that was just my impatience at wanting to solve the mystery and (hopefully) arrive at a happy ending?

Disclaimer: Not for anyone bored by 1869 prose, a slow pace and/or melodrama.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 19th-century Gothic novel starts brilliantly and builds up a dark, suspenseful atmosphere in the opening chapters. But somehow I feel it all fizzles out, with too much repetitive dialogue and everything happening too slowly, until near the end there are suddenly loads of plot twists in the space of two or three pages to tie up all the loose ends.
I was keen to read this after seeing a BBC adaptation a few years ago which I remember enjoying, and also because I knew it had some echoes of 'Jane Eyre', which is one of my favourite novels. However, I found this the weakest of the three Sheridan Le Fanu novels I've read (the others were 'Uncle Silas' and 'Wylder's Hand', and am vowing that in future I'll stick to his short stories.

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS AWFUL. There, I said it.

The only other piece by Le Fanu that I've read is Carmilla. Based on that story, I was expecting at least a modicum of excitement. No such luck.

It was the plot that was the problem. I wish there had been more of it. If you insist on picking up this turd of a book, read the first chapter, the last three chapters, and a couple of paragraphs in the middle (Sorry, I forget which ones), because those are the only ones that move the story forward. It's a shame, really. There is a good gothic story in there. Sadly, it's buried in purple prose and pages (and PAGES) of pointless dialogue. Extracting it is a bit like picking peas out of a bowl of gravel.

If you like a good gothic story, pass on this one and read Wuthering Heights, The Thirteenth Tale, or Fall of the House of Usher instead. You'll be glad you did.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some good parts and some bad parts. Possible spoilers follow. I was disappointed by the ending. It was very muddled and rushed. In this case, the film was better than the book and deserves a viewing. Hopefully the next LeFanu story I read is better than this one.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic with a pinch of horror, a pinch of gothic, and a pinch of mystery, then add a spec of romance and there you have it, The Wyvern Mystery...

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildred Tarnley is the only redeemable character thus far. Reads like a combination of Jane Eyre x Gone to Earth? A madwoman (neglected wife from Hoxton in this instance - not the sort who has been up to 3am snorting coke then been snapped by Facehunter whilst draped in horrendous fashionable rags and staggering out of some nightlife hotspot in a desperate attempt to hold on to her fast fading youth - although she does possess a magazine with the latest fashions - none of your overpriced crap from Beyond Retro for this vile harridan) appears halfway through the book and takes up residence in her old rooms. Meanwhile meek and mild Alice (who is a criminal simpering bore) slumbers nearby unawares. Alice reminded me forcibly of Webb's Hazel Woodus, who was such a simpering idiot - in short she's a simpering personality devoid dullard.

The wretched Charlie is caught between the two women - one his concealed wife, the other his newlywed 'wife'. Why anyone would want to marry him (apart from the lure of inheriting Wyvern House) I don't know, he's neither compelling nor charming. Mildred keeps the household ticking over and seems the only one with an ounce of common sense, alongside culinary skill and other household chores.

This is the longest story I've read by Fanu and it does suffer from a huge number of chapters which just feel like filler. Sure he creates a great atmosphere and there are some notable and beautiful descriptions of character and countryside - but ultimately it doesn't satisfy in the same manner as some of his shorter and more gruesome spooky tales. This feels like a watered down short story stretched into a novel. I got really frustrated with the two 'newlyweds' - endless simpering declarations of love and 'darling' was a word I never wish to see repeated again. Ultimately you don't really care much about the outcome. Not his strongest work, compared to the fantastic Carmilla it pales in comparison. I got seriously fed up with it by the end, way too sentimental for my tastes, and it became a bit of a slog - what was the mystery of the title exactly? The 'secret wife' was hardly what I would define as a mystery, it just felt rather unsatisfactory as regards the plot.

The one thing I did like however, which redeemed the middle of the story slightly; was the blind wife slicing through the wallpaper with a knife and scuttling along the papered up passage connecting the two rooms, deliciously creepy scene!

[Wanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

25 OCT 2015 - my Hallowe'en read. It's a re-read but that is okay. Bettie found the film on Youtube.

Download read here -

Volu. 1 - http://manybooks.net/titles/fanujoseo...

Volu. 2 - http://manybooks.net/titles/fanujoseo...

Volu. 3 - http://manybooks.net/titles/fanujoseo...

Watch film here - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aq3l_T...

Happy Hallowe'en!

P.S. Dracula is a great read, too.


Beauty & The Beast meets Jane Eyre.

[Kavan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very tedious novel centered around very tedious people. The hero is a middle aged man who marries a young girl; ignoring that he is in debt and has a past romance that is just waiting to decimate his life. The heroine is a spineless ingénue who seemingly exists merely to adore and or pine after said banal hero. They are the drippiest duo imaginable, and chapter after chapter has them cooing like a pair of annoying 15 year olds. The only mystery is why a reader is supposed to care about the pair of them.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the two Le Fanu novels I've read, long-form plotting is not his strength. This is better constructed than Uncle Silas and he creates a genuine sense of foreboding, but much of that is dissipated in the rushed concluding section that sinks into sweetness (small children, especially neglected adorable noble-spirited small children in isolated country cottages, brought out the worst in the Victorians) as it ties up all the loose plot threads--and there are rather a lot of those.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although well-written in that enjoyable Gothic style that sends you scurrying to the dictionary every few pages to look up some obscure English word, this book was a huge disappointment. There was no wyvern (just an estate with that name) and there was no mystery. If it was renamed The Wyvern Romance it would be far less disappointing. I read it around Halloween hoping for a spine-tingling thriller, but no--we got a bunch of uptight English landowners lying to each other about who was in love with who instead.

[Paul Cowdell · Rating 4 out of 5]

For 2 and a half volumes this was pretty much the tensest Le Fanu sinister family mystery I'd ever read (think: Wylder's Hand cranked up to the max). Somewhere in the third volume it lurches in a new direction that's surprising, but still unbearable and gripping. And then something really odd happens in the writing, like a bunch of characters were repossessed by editors/creditors.

I still don't really have any idea what just happened to the book I was reading, but I enjoyed it enormously.

[Laura]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aq3l...

[Carmilla Voiez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this novel, having thoroughly enjoyed Le Fanu's short story collection, "In A Glass Darkly". The characters were mere silhouettes, the dialogue bland and repetitive, and they mystery in the title - well perhaps it's aged badly, but I doubt it was ever acclaimed. I picked the book up at a second-hand bookstore and frequently wondered whether it was worth finishing, it wasn't, but I did.

[Иван Русланов · Rating 1 out of 5]

Не мога да повярвам, че това е писано от автора на "Кармила".... След 17-тата реплика "Глупавичката ми съпруга" се отказах.

[Sarada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this, so I'm making a note for myself for the future that yes I did start it but it fizzled and I couldn't stay focused on it. I love LeFanu, but not all LeFanu is top notch. Sometimes the only setting in which I can read the rather dry stories from writers in this era that I otherwise like, is sitting in the woods in the autumn on a perfect crisp day. But I think I'll stick with the ones that really grab me, since I have a lot of books and I'd rather spend times with the ones that really move and engage me.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Le Fanu's short stories, especially his collection "In a Glass, Darkly". I think The Wyvern Mystery would have been better if it wasn't novel length. It rambled on for far too long, even though most chapters were only a few pages in length each. Things were also tied up way to neatly in the final few chapters. I'm glad I read this but hope that two of his other novels that are on my to read list are better.

[Gala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Увлекателна история за тайнственост, любов, наследство, тайни помисли, мрачно минало и призраци. Препоръчвам горещо на любители на леки мистерии. Нищо конкретно в историята не е стряскащо, освен умело създаденото чувство на постоянно очакване, че нещо повратно ще се случи при всяко отгръщане на страница....

[Guillemette Allard-Bares · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat surprising novel—I expected more suspense and supernatural aspects, which were lacking for most of the novel. The mystery lies in fact more in the gloomy atmosphere, more than the actual events. Some aspects of the plot also seem to remain ambiguous all the way through, and some questions were left unanswered. Enjoyable style, however, and an interesting read overall…

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed in it. I'd seen the Derek Jacobi movie about 15 years ago and liked it. The book was described as suspenseful and a horror story by an author who was the Stephen King of his day. Compared to the book, watching paint dry is scarier.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far the least inspiring of Le Fanu's writings. This would have been better left as the short story - "A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family" - it was originally intended.

[Joro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting early build up leading to a drab main storyline and an expectable conclusion. The name of the book is deceptive. Not really worth the time.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Uncle Silas, but Le Fanu is certainly a master at creating mood.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting tale, and compelling in the sense of always wanting to know what happens next and hoping for the best for the characters. It is very much a nineteenth century novel, however, in the sense that it’s a meandering story of things happening to the characters. The characters for the most part don’t do anything. What they did that makes this story interesting all happened before the story starts. The only character that does do stuff, the younger brother Henry Fairfield, for the most part does it all off-screen.

If there’s any sense of mystery in the story, it comes from wondering what Fairfield’s scheme is and how much of what he tells people is true, how much he believes is true, and how much is deliberate lying to get his way.

Assuming you go into it, as I did, knowing it was a novel from the 1800s, the disappointment comes mainly from the title and the back-cover blurb, which reads as if the blurb-writer had had the characters described to them and then wrote the blurb assuming it to be a modern novel.

“As Alice blossoms into a beautiful young woman she attracts the attentions of not one but two of the men she lives with.”

This is technically true from the standpoint of describing the character—but all of this happens before the book starts. It’s the backstory that leads to the conflict of the story, and the story’s first couple of chapters begin with the end of that.

“The blissful happiness that ensues, however, is short-lived as she finds herself embroiled in the dark secrets of the Fairfield family’s past and the evil ambitions of its present. In a world that is nightmarish and malevolent, nothing and no one is quite what they seem.”

There is as far as I can tell only one relevant secret in the Fairfield family’s past and it’s not particularly dark. The Fairfields are an open book, and even that one secret is a secret only to the reader, because we aren’t told what everyone else except Alice knows, and to Alice, who is too young to know it. As far as being a mystery, that secret is never really resolved as a mystery, though from what little we learn of how Charles lived I suspect Harry has the right of it.

“Who—or what—is the malignant presence that haunts Carwell Grange?”

This makes it sound like a ghost story. Alice sees and feels something odd when entering a room toward the beginning, once. It’s taken as an omen, and it probably is, but it is otherwise never part of the story again. It is also the only thing remotely supernatural in the book. This is not a spoiler; it’s like saying that Man and Superman doesn’t have Clark Kent in it even though the word “Superman” appears a few times. It isn’t that kind of book and was never meant to be that kind of book. Le Fanu is well known for his ghost stories, but he wasn’t writing a ghost story here.

The biggest mystery in the book is why Charles is sometimes called “Ry” by Alice, when it’s Charles’s brother who is named Henry/Harry.

This is not a ghost story (there are no witches either, despite the back-cover blurb). It is not a psychological thriller. It is not a crime mystery or a nail-biting horror. Like many books of its time, there isn’t even a continuing character. The characters are used as needed, and thrown out when they’re done with—even Alice. It’s a story about a time and a place and the events that happen then and there.

I started reading this hoping for another of Le Fanu’s supernatural stories (he does in fact write supernatural mysteries—his novel Carmilla introduced us to one of the first fictional occult detectives). Once I realized that wasn’t what it was, I enjoyed it for what it is: a gothic tale about the potential fall of a powerful family amid their ruined manors and misty moors in the English countryside.

[A.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is outside of copyright but it took me forever to find a decent copy of it in ebook. Kobo came through. It was mentioned in one of the gothic non fic titles I have read recently and I was eager to add it to the reading list.

Ah, the sheltered life of the heroine. Her mother dies after her birth, and her Reverend father is hounded to death by the local lord, landowner and bully, Squire Fairfield, who takes the daughter into his own home and raises her. [what? why? stay clear of the man who killed your father, girl!] At some point, he notices she is very pretty and thinks he might just marry her. He is an old man and his two sons, now in their forties are not particularly happy about this plan. Woe betide they be challenged by a new heir.

Charles sneaks around his father, to woo and secretly marry her. This comes as a surprise to the reader. [dammit Alice, don’t marry a guy twenty years older than you either, even if it is better than almost forty years older]

Squire Fairfield is known for his rages, and he throws them out of his home Wyvern Place, and disinherits his son. But Charles has another home; they take up residence in Carwell Grange. It is falling apart from neglect; Charles is not a good landowner. From the moment Alice steps over the threshold, things start going wrong.

Alice is such an innocent, and a pretty bad judge of character. [I saw one GR review that said the only mystery was how Charles stood without a spine - lol]

And then his younger brother Harry shows up - and gah - he is worse.

I wondered at one stage if it was written as a serial, because it is VERY overwritten. A simple description becomes pages of information. The ‘wronged’ woman shows up, by it is all so confusing, no-one is very clear if she is Harry’s wife or not. After being pretty dangerous and violent to Alice, she gets away scot free, no charges against her, gets her house, and then dies off the page falling out a window to be impaled on the fence - which is an odd thing for a character that spent so much time on the page being evil and mean.

And Harry? He kidnaps his brother’s heir, knowing that boy inherits everything. He fakes the death of the baby and lies to Alice. But the author swerves making him truly evil and allows him to confess on his deathbed and it is all put right through the actions of good old Tom. What???

I was genuinely confused as to who the heck Tom Orange was, but I think I worked it out.

I am interested to watch the film of this and see if they dodged the ending, too.

2 what the heck was the mystery stars

[Fred · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everyone is entitled to an off-day now and then. I remain a Le Fanu lover! This is just a bit dire.

I loved his novel Uncle Silas and his novella collection In a Glass Darkly, especially ‘Carmilla’ and ‘The Room in the Dragon Volant’. They are both such masterpieces.

Whereas this one starts badly, right midway through the plot, before cutting away to a flashback and beginning from the start. We meet Alice Maybell, who has married Charles Fairfield to get away from his creepy father, Squire Fairfield, who brought her up. They move away from Wyvern to a different house - Carwell Grange - but all is not as it seems.

(That is the first odd thing - the novel is called ‘The Wyvern Mystery’, and almost none of it is set at Wyvern House.)

It turns out that Charles is already married to a woman called Bertha (in literature’s possibly most blatant Charlotte Brontë ripoff), who is dangerously disturbed. In the novel’s best passage, Bertha comes to the house at night and insists that the shocked housemaid Mildred Tarnley give her a room. Then Bertha tries to kill Alice, is taken away by the police…

…and the novel completely loses steam. Everyone starts dying of fever. And then we spend time with characters we have never met before - with all the familiar characters being dropped - through pages and pages of endless, dull dialogue. The relevance of this to the plot is only clear right at the end (and by then I didn’t care).

So overall, the plot makes no sense, the writing is very unclear and dull (two of the characters talk in almost nothing but proverbs), and the final third feels like it’s from a completely different novel. This is one for Victorian Literature lovers to skip.

Joe Sherry, mate, we’ll call this an off-day and say no more about it. We’re still pals!

[JerrieGayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gothic Mystery with Promise but Uneven Pacing 2.5 stars rounded to 3 stars

This gothic tale begins with strong Jane Eyre vibes—an orphaned heroine, a brooding estate, and dark family secrets—but quickly loses momentum and rushes to its conclusion.

Allison is raised by the Squire of Wyvern, a man possibly tied to her father’s death. When she comes of age, the Squire decides to marry her, prompting her to flee with her love, Charles. Betrayals, tragedy, and a few twists follow, but the story’s pacing falters and the ending feels abrupt.

A promising premise and moody atmosphere, but ultimately, it didn’t quite deliver.

[Cress · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much potential, so much of it wasted. I don't know if Fanu couldn't figure out what story he wanted to tell, but that's how it read. There were some gems that would have been delightful to explore, but instead all I got out of this was a hot mess. I'll stick to Carmilla.

[Celia T · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a bizarrely plotted and disappointing book. So many themes and threads were introduced only to fizzle out or be apparently forgotten. Not a single character interesting or three-dimensional character to be seen. Mr. Le Fanu my man I know you can do better than this.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very run of the mill gothic melodrama with some great characters but very predictable.