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Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott
Six years before she wrote Little Women, and in dire financial straits, Louisa May Alcott entered "Pauline's Passion and Punishment," a novelette, in a newspaper contest. Not only did it win the hundred-dollar prize but, published under a pseudonym, it marked the first in the series of "blood & thunder tales" that would provide her livelihood for years to come. Gruesome, passionate, even gory, the stories reveal a darker side of the writer beloved by generations as "the children's friend." Yet in their mastery of suspense and psychological drama, they attest to the multifaceted genius of their creator.
Here, Madeleine Stern introduces four of these unforgettable thrillers, unearthed after more than a century, along with a fascinating biographical and critical analysis that, in the words of The Christian Science Monitor, "significantly deepens our understanding of one of the most tragically bright figures in American Literature."
Madeleine Stern is a well-known authority on nineteenth-century America, and a partner in Leona Rostenberg--Rare Books. Among her other works, she is the author of Louisa May Alcott; The Life of Margaret Fuller; Purple Passage: The Life of Mrs. Frank Leslie; and with Leona Rostenberg, Old and Rare: Thirty Years in the Book Business.
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1867
63 people are currently reading
2645 people want to read
About the author
Louisa May Alcott
4,168 books10.7k followersLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.
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February 24, 2022
I’ve only read ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott. This is certainly different. It’s like Louisa May Alcott’s evil twin sister wrote this! 😮
But I liked it.
I would give it 3.5 stars.... My Hesperus edition was only 108 pages so it was a read-in-one-sitting book for me. I liked my edition...it has French flaps. Hesperus Press does not currently publish this book anymore, although you can get the book from other publishers for under ten bucks.
Speaking of her evil twin sister, she did publish this under an assumed name of A.M. Barnard and had another (alternative) title of ‘A Woman’s Power’. Indeed Miss Muir had power. I can’t say much more about the novella without giving key stuff away. It’s a fun read and the less I say the better. 🤐
Reviews
• I can see I was not the only person rooting for Miss Muir! http://www.secretvictorianist.com/201...
• https://geoffwhaley.com/2016/07/29/be... (The only thing that kept me from reading the book in one sitting was my pesky day job.)
NOTE: My edition only had this story...other editions have this story and several others.
But I liked it.
I would give it 3.5 stars.... My Hesperus edition was only 108 pages so it was a read-in-one-sitting book for me. I liked my edition...it has French flaps. Hesperus Press does not currently publish this book anymore, although you can get the book from other publishers for under ten bucks.
Speaking of her evil twin sister, she did publish this under an assumed name of A.M. Barnard and had another (alternative) title of ‘A Woman’s Power’. Indeed Miss Muir had power. I can’t say much more about the novella without giving key stuff away. It’s a fun read and the less I say the better. 🤐
Reviews
• I can see I was not the only person rooting for Miss Muir! http://www.secretvictorianist.com/201...
• https://geoffwhaley.com/2016/07/29/be... (The only thing that kept me from reading the book in one sitting was my pesky day job.)
NOTE: My edition only had this story...other editions have this story and several others.
July 10, 2023
Louisa May Alcott is best known for her Little Women trilogy, Realist novels of staid, mostly conventional and loving family life in New England in the years during and after the Civil War. In the same era, Realism was rising to claim the throne of literary respectability in American letters, supplanting the style of the previously dominant Romantic school. Rising writers who wanted to earn accolades from the critical clerisy of that day had to adopt the Realist goal (that is, to faithfully depict the contours of everyday modern life as it's ordinarily lived) and style. Alcott was quite successful in doing so, and she does it with a depth and skill that suggests that it was not just an affected pretense she engaged in only for critical brownie points. Telling the realistic story of the March family, and especially of Jo, her fictional alter ego, was a genuine, true aspect of her literary vision, and very close to her heart. But it wasn't the only true and genuine aspect of her vision.... :-)
Readers of Little Women know that Jo, as a budding writer, wrote (gasp!) some rather lurid and melodramatic thrillers in the now ever-so-disparaged Romantic mode. In the book, she repents of her literary sin, and vows to do better. Serious literary detective work in the 20th century revealed that one of many aspects in which Jo resembled Louisa was in their literary endeavors; the latter had written quite a number of tales in the same mold as those her fictional heroine penned, mostly anonymously or under pen names. (While Jo's 1868 avowal of repentance may have been genuine for the character, her author was still secretly writing in the same vein as late as 1870.) The depth and skill of craftsmanship and psychological insight she brought to these tales is no less than that which she brought to her Realist novels. This part of her corpus was also no thrown-together hackwork done just for the money (though it did bring in some money, at a time when the Alcott household needed it). Rather, the exploration of human moral and psychological possibilities (for both good and evil), family dysfunction and gender inter-dynamics, often through unusual and extreme situations, and in ways that frankly seek to elicit an emotional reaction from the reader, was also a true and genuine expression of her vision and creativity, part of her nature as much as was the quieter, more “realistic” chronicler of the everyday world.
In all, she wrote a corpus of 29 stories in the “sensational,” or Romantic mode. The complete 780-page collection, Louisa May Alcott Unmasked: Collected Thrillers was finally published in 1995 under the editorship of independent scholar Madeleine Stern, who was largely responsible for unearthing most of these unjustly forgotten works. Originally published 20 years earlier, and also edited by Stern, the collection reviewed here (which I first read in 1989, so my just completed read was my second) includes just four of those stories, and basically serves as an appetizer for the main course. (Which I'll definitely add to my to-read shelf ASAP!). Written between 1863-1867 (the dates are given in the roughly four pages of documentary end-notes to the Introduction), the four selections here are the title story, “Behind a Mask, or, A Woman's Power” (1866), the longest story here at 105 pages; “Pauline's Passion and Punishment,” (1863), the only one of the tales here that has illustrations, apparently done for the original magazine printing, and the shortest one at around 48 pages; “The Mysterious Key and What It Opened” (1867), which the author actually allowed to be published under her real name; and “The Abbot's Ghost, or, Maurice Treherne's Temptation.”
A friend of Alcott's, L. C. Pickett, who years later recounted (in his 1916 book Across My Path: Memories of People I Have Known) a revealing conversation he'd had with her, recalled her as saying, ”I think my natural ambition is for the lurid style. I indulge in gorgeous fancies and wish that I dared inscribe them upon my pages and set them before the public.... How should I dare to interfere with the proper grayness of old Concord? The dear old town has never known a startling hue since the redcoats were there. Far be it from me to inject an inharmonious color into the neutral tint.... To have had Mr. Emerson for an intellectual god all one's life is to be invested with a chain armor of propriety.... I shall always be a wretched victim to the respectable traditions of Concord.” (In an earlier letter to her friend Alf Whitman, she also contrasted the sort of “blood and thunder” tales she was proposing to write with “moral” works.) She's undoubtedly not the only author, then and now, who's felt hemmed in artistically by the constraint of not wanting to lay bare all of the scenarios he/she could imagine, and take creative pride in constructing, before the possibly scandalized and censorious gaze of family and friends!
These comments can easily be misunderstood, though, to create a false impression and expectation of what these stories are. They're definitely not the work of a writer who, in Dame Edith Pargeter's phrase, “take[s] pleasure in evil,” nor do they seek to make evil attractive to the reader. All four of the stories have a solid moral compass; but it operates in the context of dark situations, where characters may be facing temptations, and dealing with feelings, such as unbridled desire for vengeance or determination to marry for money, that wouldn't be openly discussed in typical Concord parlors. Here we have female characters who may display a great deal of self-direction and agency (qualities 19th-century males didn't necessarily admire in women!), and not always for good ends or by good methods. Not everybody in these tales is always operating in an ethical fashion, and violence and scandal may be real possibilities. Of course, “Realist” dogma notwithstanding, that doesn't necessarily make them “unrealistic;” all of these elements are part of the real world –they're just parts that the Realist movement of that day deliberately chose not to include much in its portrayal of reality. The light of moral reality shines the most vividly against a dark background; Alcott masterfully gives us both. So a “blood and thunder” tale actually may be quite a solidly moral tale as well, and these are; they just aren't the kind of “moral” story where everybody sets a saccharine-sweet moral example, and they promote their message not so much by a tepid intellectual appeal as by the engagement of powerful emotions such as anger, horror, sorrow, fear, pity and compassion, hope, joy, and vicarious romantic attraction. And like life, they may give us tragedy or happy endings (or elements of both).
All of the stories utilize omniscient third person narration. “Pauline's Passion and Punishment” begins in Cuba and then moves to the U.S.; the other three stories are set in England, in the milieu of the landed gentry. Many typical Romantic, and even Gothic, elements are present in the various stories; but the stories all also have a richly-depicted tapestry of realistic social interactions, in many places, these works have the flavor of a novel of manners in the mold of Austen or Henry James. The titular abbot's ghost in the final story is “real” (for purposes of the story), but doesn't play a big role; otherwise, these are stories of the real world, albeit a real world that can be home to mysterious keys, concealed identities, secrets sinister and otherwise, and hidden agendas. Alcott excels in the creation of highly believable, three-dimensional characters, who are mostly morally gray characters, adding to the considerable interest of the tales, and to their moral complexity. We don't have any totally morally black-hatted characters (even among the “villains,” and who the latter are might be debatable at times), and few totally white-hatted ones. (19th-century attitudes of classism, ableism, ethnic stereotypes, and the realities of gender roles are sometimes reflected, but there's no illicit sex or bad language in any of the selections.) Every one of the four stories packs a very powerful emotional wallop, and this is appealing to me, as a reader who, overall, tends to prefer the Romantic over the Realist school.
Stern's Introduction is a bit over 21 pages long, and --based on the parts of it that I read-- is accessible (no scholarly jargon here!), illuminating, and chock-full of information about Alcott's life, including much that I didn't previously know. (She also wrote a well-received 1971 biography of Alcott, and had access to her subject's papers and correspondence.) However, even after reading this book, I read only part of the Introduction, since it not only has spoilers for the stories here, but for other Alcott stories as well! (The much shorter Afterword, on the other hand, is just an assessment of the spike in critical and pop-cultural awareness of Alcott caused by this collection's first publication.)
Readers of Little Women know that Jo, as a budding writer, wrote (gasp!) some rather lurid and melodramatic thrillers in the now ever-so-disparaged Romantic mode. In the book, she repents of her literary sin, and vows to do better. Serious literary detective work in the 20th century revealed that one of many aspects in which Jo resembled Louisa was in their literary endeavors; the latter had written quite a number of tales in the same mold as those her fictional heroine penned, mostly anonymously or under pen names. (While Jo's 1868 avowal of repentance may have been genuine for the character, her author was still secretly writing in the same vein as late as 1870.) The depth and skill of craftsmanship and psychological insight she brought to these tales is no less than that which she brought to her Realist novels. This part of her corpus was also no thrown-together hackwork done just for the money (though it did bring in some money, at a time when the Alcott household needed it). Rather, the exploration of human moral and psychological possibilities (for both good and evil), family dysfunction and gender inter-dynamics, often through unusual and extreme situations, and in ways that frankly seek to elicit an emotional reaction from the reader, was also a true and genuine expression of her vision and creativity, part of her nature as much as was the quieter, more “realistic” chronicler of the everyday world.
In all, she wrote a corpus of 29 stories in the “sensational,” or Romantic mode. The complete 780-page collection, Louisa May Alcott Unmasked: Collected Thrillers was finally published in 1995 under the editorship of independent scholar Madeleine Stern, who was largely responsible for unearthing most of these unjustly forgotten works. Originally published 20 years earlier, and also edited by Stern, the collection reviewed here (which I first read in 1989, so my just completed read was my second) includes just four of those stories, and basically serves as an appetizer for the main course. (Which I'll definitely add to my to-read shelf ASAP!). Written between 1863-1867 (the dates are given in the roughly four pages of documentary end-notes to the Introduction), the four selections here are the title story, “Behind a Mask, or, A Woman's Power” (1866), the longest story here at 105 pages; “Pauline's Passion and Punishment,” (1863), the only one of the tales here that has illustrations, apparently done for the original magazine printing, and the shortest one at around 48 pages; “The Mysterious Key and What It Opened” (1867), which the author actually allowed to be published under her real name; and “The Abbot's Ghost, or, Maurice Treherne's Temptation.”
A friend of Alcott's, L. C. Pickett, who years later recounted (in his 1916 book Across My Path: Memories of People I Have Known) a revealing conversation he'd had with her, recalled her as saying, ”I think my natural ambition is for the lurid style. I indulge in gorgeous fancies and wish that I dared inscribe them upon my pages and set them before the public.... How should I dare to interfere with the proper grayness of old Concord? The dear old town has never known a startling hue since the redcoats were there. Far be it from me to inject an inharmonious color into the neutral tint.... To have had Mr. Emerson for an intellectual god all one's life is to be invested with a chain armor of propriety.... I shall always be a wretched victim to the respectable traditions of Concord.” (In an earlier letter to her friend Alf Whitman, she also contrasted the sort of “blood and thunder” tales she was proposing to write with “moral” works.) She's undoubtedly not the only author, then and now, who's felt hemmed in artistically by the constraint of not wanting to lay bare all of the scenarios he/she could imagine, and take creative pride in constructing, before the possibly scandalized and censorious gaze of family and friends!
These comments can easily be misunderstood, though, to create a false impression and expectation of what these stories are. They're definitely not the work of a writer who, in Dame Edith Pargeter's phrase, “take[s] pleasure in evil,” nor do they seek to make evil attractive to the reader. All four of the stories have a solid moral compass; but it operates in the context of dark situations, where characters may be facing temptations, and dealing with feelings, such as unbridled desire for vengeance or determination to marry for money, that wouldn't be openly discussed in typical Concord parlors. Here we have female characters who may display a great deal of self-direction and agency (qualities 19th-century males didn't necessarily admire in women!), and not always for good ends or by good methods. Not everybody in these tales is always operating in an ethical fashion, and violence and scandal may be real possibilities. Of course, “Realist” dogma notwithstanding, that doesn't necessarily make them “unrealistic;” all of these elements are part of the real world –they're just parts that the Realist movement of that day deliberately chose not to include much in its portrayal of reality. The light of moral reality shines the most vividly against a dark background; Alcott masterfully gives us both. So a “blood and thunder” tale actually may be quite a solidly moral tale as well, and these are; they just aren't the kind of “moral” story where everybody sets a saccharine-sweet moral example, and they promote their message not so much by a tepid intellectual appeal as by the engagement of powerful emotions such as anger, horror, sorrow, fear, pity and compassion, hope, joy, and vicarious romantic attraction. And like life, they may give us tragedy or happy endings (or elements of both).
All of the stories utilize omniscient third person narration. “Pauline's Passion and Punishment” begins in Cuba and then moves to the U.S.; the other three stories are set in England, in the milieu of the landed gentry. Many typical Romantic, and even Gothic, elements are present in the various stories; but the stories all also have a richly-depicted tapestry of realistic social interactions, in many places, these works have the flavor of a novel of manners in the mold of Austen or Henry James. The titular abbot's ghost in the final story is “real” (for purposes of the story), but doesn't play a big role; otherwise, these are stories of the real world, albeit a real world that can be home to mysterious keys, concealed identities, secrets sinister and otherwise, and hidden agendas. Alcott excels in the creation of highly believable, three-dimensional characters, who are mostly morally gray characters, adding to the considerable interest of the tales, and to their moral complexity. We don't have any totally morally black-hatted characters (even among the “villains,” and who the latter are might be debatable at times), and few totally white-hatted ones. (19th-century attitudes of classism, ableism, ethnic stereotypes, and the realities of gender roles are sometimes reflected, but there's no illicit sex or bad language in any of the selections.) Every one of the four stories packs a very powerful emotional wallop, and this is appealing to me, as a reader who, overall, tends to prefer the Romantic over the Realist school.
Stern's Introduction is a bit over 21 pages long, and --based on the parts of it that I read-- is accessible (no scholarly jargon here!), illuminating, and chock-full of information about Alcott's life, including much that I didn't previously know. (She also wrote a well-received 1971 biography of Alcott, and had access to her subject's papers and correspondence.) However, even after reading this book, I read only part of the Introduction, since it not only has spoilers for the stories here, but for other Alcott stories as well! (The much shorter Afterword, on the other hand, is just an assessment of the spike in critical and pop-cultural awareness of Alcott caused by this collection's first publication.)
January 7, 2022
When you think Louisa May Alcott, you think “Little Women”. The author is so synonymous with her much-loved classic that one forgets she wrote other types of stories too. It might come as a surprise to some that before she worked on “Little Women”, she wrote plenty of gothic thrillers. Published in popular magazines anonymously or under the pseudonym ‘A. M. Barnard’, the stories were the pulp fiction of their day, full of deceit and depravity. Alcott dismissively called them “blood-and-thunder tales.”
My copy of this book contained an opening note by Madeleine Stern, the lady who discovered the existence of these stories. She was a rare-book dealer and following clues sprinkled in Alcott’s correspondence and other writings, found evidence that Alcott had written potboilers too. Her introductory note is extremely insightful about Louisa May Alcott and gives a lot of details of when and how Alcott brought these stories to life.
This book was my attempt at knowing Louisa May Alcott’s works better. I am a huge fan of ‘Little Women’ and Jo March has a firm place in my heart as one of the best female characters in classics. Some shades of Jo’s independent streak can be found in the women of these stories too, but overall, I was left with mixed feelings. Of the four stories, two worked brilliantly and two left me feeling meh. Here’s a brief feedback on the stories.
1. Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power: Written under the pseudonym of A M Barnard
It starts off in a very confusing manner with too many characters too soon, but you soon figure out who is who. The story is in the romantic suspense thriller style. Of course, for readers in 2022, there’s not much of suspense, but considering that this was first written in 1866, it must have been mind-blowing then. I never expected Alcott to write a heroine like this, what with her secretive deviousness and flirtatious behaviour. (It stunned me almost as much as Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.)
3.75 stars.
2. Pauline's Passion and Punishment
When Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper offered a one hundred dollar prize for a story, Louisa May Alcott anonymously submitted, and won the contest with this story. Originally published in January 1863, this was the first of Louisa May Alcott's "blood-and-thunder" tales to be printed. It is the shortest story in the book with only four chapters and therein lies its shortcoming. It starts decently but soon becomes a tad boring. The ending is very abrupt and unexpected. At the same time, it has strong shades of feminism as the traditional gender roles seem to be reversed.
2.5 stars
3. The Mysterious Key
First published in 1867, this was my favourite story of the book. It is quite wellwritten and is the only story to create well-defined characters. Though it has its creepy moments, it is a bit predictable. Of course, considering it sprung from a young woman's mind more than 150 years ago, it's amazing. This is the only story in the book with a male hero and the only story that progresses at a steady and quick pace.
4.25 stars.
4. The Abbot's Ghost
Published under the pseudonym of A M Barnard in the year 1867, this is suppoed to be a Christmas story with a ghost. I tried a lot to keep my attention on this but I simply couldn't. There were too many characters (hardly any of whom are developed well) and the writing style was insipid. This was a dud for me with the ghost being the only surprise factor as I didn’t expect that from Alcott.
2 stars.
Overall, I would recommend this only to staunch fans of Louisa May Alcott who want to see her beyond “Little Women”. The stories are all in the public domain so you needn’t purchase this copy but can just download the individual stories from public domain book sites such as Gutenberg or Archive.org.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
My copy of this book contained an opening note by Madeleine Stern, the lady who discovered the existence of these stories. She was a rare-book dealer and following clues sprinkled in Alcott’s correspondence and other writings, found evidence that Alcott had written potboilers too. Her introductory note is extremely insightful about Louisa May Alcott and gives a lot of details of when and how Alcott brought these stories to life.
This book was my attempt at knowing Louisa May Alcott’s works better. I am a huge fan of ‘Little Women’ and Jo March has a firm place in my heart as one of the best female characters in classics. Some shades of Jo’s independent streak can be found in the women of these stories too, but overall, I was left with mixed feelings. Of the four stories, two worked brilliantly and two left me feeling meh. Here’s a brief feedback on the stories.
1. Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power: Written under the pseudonym of A M Barnard
It starts off in a very confusing manner with too many characters too soon, but you soon figure out who is who. The story is in the romantic suspense thriller style. Of course, for readers in 2022, there’s not much of suspense, but considering that this was first written in 1866, it must have been mind-blowing then. I never expected Alcott to write a heroine like this, what with her secretive deviousness and flirtatious behaviour. (It stunned me almost as much as Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.)
3.75 stars.
2. Pauline's Passion and Punishment
When Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper offered a one hundred dollar prize for a story, Louisa May Alcott anonymously submitted, and won the contest with this story. Originally published in January 1863, this was the first of Louisa May Alcott's "blood-and-thunder" tales to be printed. It is the shortest story in the book with only four chapters and therein lies its shortcoming. It starts decently but soon becomes a tad boring. The ending is very abrupt and unexpected. At the same time, it has strong shades of feminism as the traditional gender roles seem to be reversed.
2.5 stars
3. The Mysterious Key
First published in 1867, this was my favourite story of the book. It is quite wellwritten and is the only story to create well-defined characters. Though it has its creepy moments, it is a bit predictable. Of course, considering it sprung from a young woman's mind more than 150 years ago, it's amazing. This is the only story in the book with a male hero and the only story that progresses at a steady and quick pace.
4.25 stars.
4. The Abbot's Ghost
Published under the pseudonym of A M Barnard in the year 1867, this is suppoed to be a Christmas story with a ghost. I tried a lot to keep my attention on this but I simply couldn't. There were too many characters (hardly any of whom are developed well) and the writing style was insipid. This was a dud for me with the ghost being the only surprise factor as I didn’t expect that from Alcott.
2 stars.
Overall, I would recommend this only to staunch fans of Louisa May Alcott who want to see her beyond “Little Women”. The stories are all in the public domain so you needn’t purchase this copy but can just download the individual stories from public domain book sites such as Gutenberg or Archive.org.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
October 17, 2021
If I wouldn't have known that Louisa May Alcott had written this, I would never had known. It's very different from Little Woman but it's really shows her writing genus. The extreme talent to write in different genres and being good in both. Yet again I listened to B.J Harrison narrating and I was wary that it would t work as good but I'm glad to report that yet again he delivers a great listening experience. If your even the slightest intrigued to read thriller from the beloved author of Little Women, I highly recommend this
October 17, 2021
These stories are delicious.
But with "Behind the Mask," Alcott veered from her traditional path of 'wholesome' writing. The book has four novellas, most of which were published anonymously at the time as what Alcott called her "Blood-and-Thunder Tales." Modern 'literary' readers probably consider these potboilers trash. Alcott's primary goal in writing them definitely was for financial gain.
But Alcott's own shadow, her frustration at the plight of the poor, and particularly of women inspired her.
The first one is the best- "Behind A Mask" follows a young governess appointed to serve the Coventry household. You just know something's not right as soon as she walks in- she acts peculiar with the young, good-looking men of the house. That, plus the hint of a muddy past makes the story go fast- and the ending is brilliant.
There is melodramatic dialogue and a bit of purple prose but that doesn't hurt the overall effect. The story stays with the reader. The issues of class and patriarchy (marriage and 'saving' reputations being the primary goals of life) are interwoven, so that this ranks higher than a simple 'blood and thunder tale.'
"Pauline's Passion & Punishment" is a classic tale of woman's revenge against a false lover. Well-paced writing- an ending that probably made those nineteenth-century readers gasp with shock. Well-written, but lacked enough depth and too drawn out to be my favorite. Melodrama at its peak.
"The Mysterious Key." Just the title brings images of a raven hovering outside a library on a rainy night. Here, we have the Lady of the house widowed at age eighteen, and the secret of her husband's death casting gloom over the castle for over a decade. The question is, what's the secret? More importantly, what are the repercussions of the secret?
"The Abbot's Ghost" is the last of the tales- here we have two good-looking bachelors- sadly, one is left crippled after an accident and is no longer 'marriageable' as a result (this was the very un-PC 1800s). Maurice is his name, and yes, he's got a terrible secret too.
As wonderful as these tales are, as a whole, one thing struck me- bothered me, to be more specific. The characters' lives revolved around three things- fame, money, and lust. Nothing outside of these things matter to any of them- nothing higher than themselves appeals to them. I wonder if Alcott was making her statement on society right here by characterizing this way. She did a good job.
But with "Behind the Mask," Alcott veered from her traditional path of 'wholesome' writing. The book has four novellas, most of which were published anonymously at the time as what Alcott called her "Blood-and-Thunder Tales." Modern 'literary' readers probably consider these potboilers trash. Alcott's primary goal in writing them definitely was for financial gain.
But Alcott's own shadow, her frustration at the plight of the poor, and particularly of women inspired her.
The first one is the best- "Behind A Mask" follows a young governess appointed to serve the Coventry household. You just know something's not right as soon as she walks in- she acts peculiar with the young, good-looking men of the house. That, plus the hint of a muddy past makes the story go fast- and the ending is brilliant.
There is melodramatic dialogue and a bit of purple prose but that doesn't hurt the overall effect. The story stays with the reader. The issues of class and patriarchy (marriage and 'saving' reputations being the primary goals of life) are interwoven, so that this ranks higher than a simple 'blood and thunder tale.'
"Pauline's Passion & Punishment" is a classic tale of woman's revenge against a false lover. Well-paced writing- an ending that probably made those nineteenth-century readers gasp with shock. Well-written, but lacked enough depth and too drawn out to be my favorite. Melodrama at its peak.
"The Mysterious Key." Just the title brings images of a raven hovering outside a library on a rainy night. Here, we have the Lady of the house widowed at age eighteen, and the secret of her husband's death casting gloom over the castle for over a decade. The question is, what's the secret? More importantly, what are the repercussions of the secret?
"The Abbot's Ghost" is the last of the tales- here we have two good-looking bachelors- sadly, one is left crippled after an accident and is no longer 'marriageable' as a result (this was the very un-PC 1800s). Maurice is his name, and yes, he's got a terrible secret too.
As wonderful as these tales are, as a whole, one thing struck me- bothered me, to be more specific. The characters' lives revolved around three things- fame, money, and lust. Nothing outside of these things matter to any of them- nothing higher than themselves appeals to them. I wonder if Alcott was making her statement on society right here by characterizing this way. She did a good job.
September 3, 2012
How cool was it to find out that Louisa May Alcott wrote gothic thrillers under another name? I was excited. The first and longest novellette of the collection is Behind A Mask or A Woman's Power (She's very fond of this or business in her titles) and that is fairly stunning. The twist happens immediately and you've no way seen it coming. It's superficially a moral tale but you're rooting for the 'bad' girl the whole time, she is stupendous, and as a rather scathing commentary on the upper class you couldn't really do better. It's interesting to wonder how much Louisa Alcott wanted it so, I discovered in the lovely introduction that although from a old family she herself was in service very briefly, and the venom seems to have stuck. The others are enjoyable if you like rather traditional gothic romances (but still the women characters are the rather kick ass femme fatale sort, which I suppose is hardly traditional, but the morals and the rich families in large dark houses remain), and don't get annoyed by some references to 'passionate' Southerners (Italians and Cubans, mostly the Cuban, and who knows who else) who don't think rather follow their hearts and are usually simple like children.
The other stories are much more of their time and nothing really special in my opinion, but Behind a Mask? The more I think about it the more I like it...
The other stories are much more of their time and nothing really special in my opinion, but Behind a Mask? The more I think about it the more I like it...
November 19, 2017
"Behind a Mask" - (4 stars)
"Pauline's Passion and Punishment" - Pauline's revenge against a false lover (4 stars)
"The Mysterious Key" - a young widow and her daughter hire a mysterious young man; the mystery aspect of the story is great, but the characters lack charm which is sad for Alcott characters. (2 stars)
"The Abbot's Ghost" - Maurice is left crippled after an accident and lives with his cousin Jasper; he tries to win the hand of his love, Octavia, despite a great secret; good story but predictable (2 stars)
"Pauline's Passion and Punishment" - Pauline's revenge against a false lover (4 stars)
"The Mysterious Key" - a young widow and her daughter hire a mysterious young man; the mystery aspect of the story is great, but the characters lack charm which is sad for Alcott characters. (2 stars)
"The Abbot's Ghost" - Maurice is left crippled after an accident and lives with his cousin Jasper; he tries to win the hand of his love, Octavia, despite a great secret; good story but predictable (2 stars)
February 3, 2024
In an unequal world connivance is more ambiguous than it is evil. Here Alcott uses the trope of ‘the artful enchantress who ruins a respectable family’ to suggest this idea. As false as the protagonist is, I found myself on her side often. Alcott paints her gentrified ‘victims’ as feckless, childish, naive, entitled, vacuous, unperceptive and listless. I never felt sympathy for them, and was actually somewhat satisfied to see a quick-witted 'commoner' playing them all. It reminded me a little of The Red and the Black with a character of questionable birth but extraordinary talent finding a way to rise in the world. Alcott never made me hate her, despite her conniving.
This reaction of mine may have to do with the different century I inhabit. Maybe in the time it was written, and among those who would read it, it was a cautionary tale that invited insecurity and dread – which would add a tension to the story that I internalized exactly oppositely. Also it may betray my own class prejudices. To me it was the deprived overcoming the effete with pluck.
Additionally this seemed a study of manipulation, or as it is being called today, social engineering. Flattery, reverse psychology, and other more tantalizing tricks are all part of her repertoire.
This reaction of mine may have to do with the different century I inhabit. Maybe in the time it was written, and among those who would read it, it was a cautionary tale that invited insecurity and dread – which would add a tension to the story that I internalized exactly oppositely. Also it may betray my own class prejudices. To me it was the deprived overcoming the effete with pluck.
Additionally this seemed a study of manipulation, or as it is being called today, social engineering. Flattery, reverse psychology, and other more tantalizing tricks are all part of her repertoire.
June 16, 2008
This was a side of Louisa May Alcott that made me chuckle, it was like reading all those fantastic stories that Jo wrote in her attic in Little Women. Very melodramatic! There are also quite a few of these where you can definitely see her abolitionist roots, but also how very prejudiced she and her times were still towards African Americans.
November 26, 2020
A surprisingly interesting anthology, though I have to admit the first one was my favorite and the others were a little more meh. A good book to read if you're behind on your reading challenge like I am :)
Individual ratings:
Behind a Mask, Or, a Woman's Power ★★★★☆
Pauline's Passion and Punishment ★★★☆☆
The Mysterious Key and What It Opened ★★☆☆☆
The Abbot's Ghost: A Christmas Story ★☆☆☆☆
Individual ratings:
Behind a Mask, Or, a Woman's Power ★★★★☆
Pauline's Passion and Punishment ★★★☆☆
The Mysterious Key and What It Opened ★★☆☆☆
The Abbot's Ghost: A Christmas Story ★☆☆☆☆
August 18, 2008
This is the first book I've read in a while that I just couldn't put down. As much as I love Little Women, I think I like Alcott's potboilers almost as much. This one is really interesting because even though I knew from the first chapter that Miss Muir was not a good person, I completely enjoyed the way she made all three men fall in love with her. I read it in 2 days - that means most people could read it in a few hours.
March 25, 2022
This was so good! I've had this on my Want-To-Read shelf forever and finally found it on LibriVox YouTube Channel! My only complaint is I wish it was longer. I have 3 library card and they all only have Little Women and Jo's Boys. Louisa May Alcott was such an amazing writer I don't know why her other book are so hard to get ahold of. I definitely want to read more by her. My mom told me there is one about a stalker that is really good, I'm going to have to hunt that down. If anyone knows the name I would be grateful if you leave it in the comments!
October 27, 2013
The shock discovery in Madeline Stern's superlative introduction
is that Louisa had to be persuaded to write "Little Women" and
she was much happier churning out tales of blood and thunder.
She wrote in a letter that she was extremely addicted to them.
Seeing the correspondence between her and her editors she must
have written 23 hours a day!!! - the length of the stories in
this book varied from 50 to 100 pages and she was always being
pressed for more, more, more!!!
Louisa's father was extremely improvident so her popularity as
a writer of lurid tales was a godsend. In fact her first,
"Pauline's Passion and Punishment" was entered for a competition
ran by Frank Leslie's Illustrated News and was the eventual winner
of $100. "Pauline's Passion" is set in the very exotic location
(for 1862) of Cuba. You really find out the meaning of "purple
prose" as Alcott leaves no adjective out in her description of
the pulsating Pauline. Profusely illustrated (my edition is a
Hogarth Press paperback, 1985) with pictures from the original
Leslie's Illustrated which set a precedent for not letting writing
get in the way of photos and illustrations, it told the story of
jilted Pauline who, with her faithful servant Manuel, goes to
extreme lengths to punish her fickle lover.
Louisa's love of Gothic romance was in evidence in her next story
submitted to "The Flag of Our Union" under the pseudonym A. M.
Barnard. Even though the paper was advertised as "containing not
one vulgar word or line", it seemed to specialize in violent
stories usually peopled with convicts and drug addicts. In "The
Abbot's Ghost" the flowery speech was certainly toned down, making
it an easier read than "Pauline's Passion". This one features the
lovely Octavia, beloved by both Maurice who is forced by ill health
to live in a wheel chair and dark, brooding Annon (who seems to
undergo a personality change after Chap. 2). There is also
mysterious Mrs Snowden who seems to have a history with Maurice
and his brother.
Louisa was under increasing pressure to publish under her right
name and she did for "The Mysterious Key" which must have meant
she considered it a milder story she was not ashamed to own. Like
"Behind a Mask" this is an excellent one all about a young vagabond
who insinuates himself into a stately family but from the start
impresses with his noble air. But everyone has secrets and Paul is
inextricably entwined with them because of a secret in his past.
The title story "Behind a Mask" is far and away the best and has
more than a passing nod to Wilkie Collins "No Name" with a
sprinkling of "Lady Audley's Secret" thrown in. Louisa must have
loved the sensation novels which were then taking England by
storm. This was a story that her editors from "Flag of Our Union"
were most excited about - it was her most ambitious story.
The story introduces Jean Muir, a homely little governess in the
best Jane Eyre tradition but she is no meek and mild Jenny Wren
- she is an actress and at the end of the first chapter there is
a horrifying scene in which she removes her hair and some of her
teeth!!! to reveal a haggard woman of 30!!!! She already has the
family intrigued as they try to discover exactly what the spell
was that she cast on Lord Sidney, son of her last employer and
it is not long before they are all under her spell - even the
proud Gerald which is exactly how Jean has planned it. The story
is full of holes!! Everything hinges on the family not having
any contact with the Sidneys but since they are neighbours and
the boys are best friends, I don't like the chances. Regardless,
the story is a real ripsnorter and the book is an interesting
observation on Louisa's great strides as a teller of super stories.
is that Louisa had to be persuaded to write "Little Women" and
she was much happier churning out tales of blood and thunder.
She wrote in a letter that she was extremely addicted to them.
Seeing the correspondence between her and her editors she must
have written 23 hours a day!!! - the length of the stories in
this book varied from 50 to 100 pages and she was always being
pressed for more, more, more!!!
Louisa's father was extremely improvident so her popularity as
a writer of lurid tales was a godsend. In fact her first,
"Pauline's Passion and Punishment" was entered for a competition
ran by Frank Leslie's Illustrated News and was the eventual winner
of $100. "Pauline's Passion" is set in the very exotic location
(for 1862) of Cuba. You really find out the meaning of "purple
prose" as Alcott leaves no adjective out in her description of
the pulsating Pauline. Profusely illustrated (my edition is a
Hogarth Press paperback, 1985) with pictures from the original
Leslie's Illustrated which set a precedent for not letting writing
get in the way of photos and illustrations, it told the story of
jilted Pauline who, with her faithful servant Manuel, goes to
extreme lengths to punish her fickle lover.
Louisa's love of Gothic romance was in evidence in her next story
submitted to "The Flag of Our Union" under the pseudonym A. M.
Barnard. Even though the paper was advertised as "containing not
one vulgar word or line", it seemed to specialize in violent
stories usually peopled with convicts and drug addicts. In "The
Abbot's Ghost" the flowery speech was certainly toned down, making
it an easier read than "Pauline's Passion". This one features the
lovely Octavia, beloved by both Maurice who is forced by ill health
to live in a wheel chair and dark, brooding Annon (who seems to
undergo a personality change after Chap. 2). There is also
mysterious Mrs Snowden who seems to have a history with Maurice
and his brother.
Louisa was under increasing pressure to publish under her right
name and she did for "The Mysterious Key" which must have meant
she considered it a milder story she was not ashamed to own. Like
"Behind a Mask" this is an excellent one all about a young vagabond
who insinuates himself into a stately family but from the start
impresses with his noble air. But everyone has secrets and Paul is
inextricably entwined with them because of a secret in his past.
The title story "Behind a Mask" is far and away the best and has
more than a passing nod to Wilkie Collins "No Name" with a
sprinkling of "Lady Audley's Secret" thrown in. Louisa must have
loved the sensation novels which were then taking England by
storm. This was a story that her editors from "Flag of Our Union"
were most excited about - it was her most ambitious story.
The story introduces Jean Muir, a homely little governess in the
best Jane Eyre tradition but she is no meek and mild Jenny Wren
- she is an actress and at the end of the first chapter there is
a horrifying scene in which she removes her hair and some of her
teeth!!! to reveal a haggard woman of 30!!!! She already has the
family intrigued as they try to discover exactly what the spell
was that she cast on Lord Sidney, son of her last employer and
it is not long before they are all under her spell - even the
proud Gerald which is exactly how Jean has planned it. The story
is full of holes!! Everything hinges on the family not having
any contact with the Sidneys but since they are neighbours and
the boys are best friends, I don't like the chances. Regardless,
the story is a real ripsnorter and the book is an interesting
observation on Louisa's great strides as a teller of super stories.
August 29, 2021
#ريفيو_كتاب
#خلف_الأقنعة
#لويزا_ماي_ألكوت
#عدد_الصفحات_157
حسب توصية من سيدة نبيلة تصل معلمة الى أسرة نبيلة لتعليم البنت الصغيرة على عزف البيانو و العلوم و مختلف الفنون منها الرسم و التمثيل و تعتبر لها مربية و لكونها من فرنسا كانت من ضمن المواصفات و لكن تاريخها و سيرتها لا علم للعائلة بها سوى كتاب التزكية من صديقة نبيلة للعائلة
امرأة شابة و جميلة لكن فقيرة تمتلك من المواهب الكثير تكون سبب لأذهال سيدة المنزل و من فيه من الرجال و النساء و الخدم لتبسط سطوتها عليهم منهم من يبداء بالغيرة منها و منهم يعشقها و يطلب ودها و التقرب لها
وتبداء الحيرة بأمرها و المشاكل بسببها بين أفراد العائلة
الكاتبة في الرواية على غير العادة في زمنها تطرقت للوجه الأخر للبشر مايضمره داخله و يظهر غيره حيث كانت النساء من الطبقة الراقية و النبيلة و التربية الحسنة في ذلك الوقت مثالاً للجمال و العفة و النزاهة لكن هنا في روايتنا بحنكة الكاتبة تبين هنا خلاف ذلك ما عهدناه من النساء منهم من لم يتقبل ذلك گ رواية و منهم من أقتنع بالحقيقة المرة ليس أنتقاص من النساء لكن البشر متلون بطبيعته و ضروفه أو البعض يعتبره فن
خير مثال وقتنا الحاضر في وسائل التواصل و الواقع
#خلف_الأقنعة
#لويزا_ماي_ألكوت
#عدد_الصفحات_157
حسب توصية من سيدة نبيلة تصل معلمة الى أسرة نبيلة لتعليم البنت الصغيرة على عزف البيانو و العلوم و مختلف الفنون منها الرسم و التمثيل و تعتبر لها مربية و لكونها من فرنسا كانت من ضمن المواصفات و لكن تاريخها و سيرتها لا علم للعائلة بها سوى كتاب التزكية من صديقة نبيلة للعائلة
امرأة شابة و جميلة لكن فقيرة تمتلك من المواهب الكثير تكون سبب لأذهال سيدة المنزل و من فيه من الرجال و النساء و الخدم لتبسط سطوتها عليهم منهم من يبداء بالغيرة منها و منهم يعشقها و يطلب ودها و التقرب لها
وتبداء الحيرة بأمرها و المشاكل بسببها بين أفراد العائلة
الكاتبة في الرواية على غير العادة في زمنها تطرقت للوجه الأخر للبشر مايضمره داخله و يظهر غيره حيث كانت النساء من الطبقة الراقية و النبيلة و التربية الحسنة في ذلك الوقت مثالاً للجمال و العفة و النزاهة لكن هنا في روايتنا بحنكة الكاتبة تبين هنا خلاف ذلك ما عهدناه من النساء منهم من لم يتقبل ذلك گ رواية و منهم من أقتنع بالحقيقة المرة ليس أنتقاص من النساء لكن البشر متلون بطبيعته و ضروفه أو البعض يعتبره فن
خير مثال وقتنا الحاضر في وسائل التواصل و الواقع
June 19, 2010
In this collection of four "blood and thunder tales" I found incredible, powerful female protagonists who were VILLAINS. This was not what I expected of Miss Alcott's writing! Each character quickly enters complicated webs of interaction with the others. Included in each story are unexpected plot twists, with shocking, yet believable, destiny-shaping changes.
I will not give away any spoiling details, but I must share this: one tale seemed perfectly resolved, until the last two lines, which made me completely rethink my interpretation of its title.
If not for the melodramatic approach some of these stories take, I would have given this book a five-star rating. I strongly recommend reading both the Introduction and the Afterward for the greatest insight into the author's "dual penmanship."
I will not give away any spoiling details, but I must share this: one tale seemed perfectly resolved, until the last two lines, which made me completely rethink my interpretation of its title.
If not for the melodramatic approach some of these stories take, I would have given this book a five-star rating. I strongly recommend reading both the Introduction and the Afterward for the greatest insight into the author's "dual penmanship."
July 13, 2014
This was beautifully written. The dark undertones almost made it unrecognizable as being written by Louisa May Alcott, however not quite. Reading this was like falling under the spell of the main character who although I know was deceiving everyone I couldn't help but keep reading and see how it would pan out. The pacing was quick and justly so, it would have been boring if not a whirlwind of activity. I suspected the truth of some of the things that were being presented, but not everything. How wonderful to be caught in the balance of not knowing what was really happening. I highly recommend this story. It is not at all hard to read like some period pieces that end up being a challenge to read instead of a delight. Hooray for the bossy book challenge, I might never have heard of this story otherwise!
August 25, 2018
This book is better than a similar collection of Alcott's stories called A Double Life. If you only want to read one story to see if you like it, read the first one, Behind a Mask, which is the best of this collection. It will give you a taste of the type of story that is in both collections.
These are all melodramatic Gothic soap operas, with the kind of lurid details never seen or heard of in Little Women, Little Men, or Jo's Boys. For me, just a little bit of this type of story is enough, but I'm glad I got the chance to see that Louisa May was not at all the naive innocent she seemed to be....
These are all melodramatic Gothic soap operas, with the kind of lurid details never seen or heard of in Little Women, Little Men, or Jo's Boys. For me, just a little bit of this type of story is enough, but I'm glad I got the chance to see that Louisa May was not at all the naive innocent she seemed to be....
December 27, 2008
This was a fun read. Certainly not something I'm going to run out and tout as a classic-must-read book, but as a big fan of Alcott's writing growing up, this was an adventure.
I found the storylines less than compelling, but the characters themselves (always Alcotts strong point) were beautifully portrayed. Like her better known (dare I simply say: better) writings, the truest moments in these stories evolved from her tender portrayal of familial relationships.
I admit, I did read these with the mental image of Jo in her writer's cap scribbling away at 2 in the morning.
I found the storylines less than compelling, but the characters themselves (always Alcotts strong point) were beautifully portrayed. Like her better known (dare I simply say: better) writings, the truest moments in these stories evolved from her tender portrayal of familial relationships.
I admit, I did read these with the mental image of Jo in her writer's cap scribbling away at 2 in the morning.
December 16, 2008
Louisa May Alcott was a very talented author. This collection is proof of that. The stories may have been thrillers in their day, and indeed are inhabited with ghosts, revenge minded cast-off lovers and forbidden matches, but they are entertaining nonetheless, admirably represent their genres and are good mysteries. Yes, mysteries. In "the Abbotts Ghost", we wonder just what secret poor Treherne is hiding and why. In others, we ponder the mysterious governess, the rage and revenge of a beautiful woman. These are mysteries as real as any CSI. A good collections of stories off the beaten path.
February 27, 2021
I am a fan of the way Alcott writes, so reading these thrillers was a real delight. Alcott has such a way with words. The tension and suspense is palpable in each story; the grand reveal always comes at the very last moment so that we must piece everything together and wonder what any character is really up to. In order of how much I liked each story, from most to least: The Abbot's Ghost, Behind a Mask, The Mysterious Key and What It Opened, Pauline's Passion and Punishment.
October 13, 2008
I love books in which nothing really happens, so Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen are a couple of favorites. Behind a Mask (the first of a few short stories in this volume) is especially amazing in that NOTHING happens until EVERYTHING happens. All in the last three pages. It's great.
October 3, 2022
Interesting premise and entertaining but I hated the ending. Somehow saddened to think this is written by the author of “Little Women.” It’s worth reading for insight into the author’s full writing ability.
April 6, 2020
I need more thrillers from Alcott. Forget Little Women. Thrillers are Alcott's genre.
January 16, 2017
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is best remembered for her Little Women series of books for girls, but had quite a few other works to her name. And some that were written under a pen name. The latter included several short works published in sensational periodicals of the time, considered too spicy to be attached to her reputation as a schoolteacher. The Alcott family suffered from poverty, and sales of “blood and thunder” stories were a nice way to earn emergency cash.
According to Ms. Stern, many of these works were lost for years because of the psuedonym and the ephemeral nature of the periodicals they appeared in. She first became aware of them in the 1940s, but due to wartime conditions was unable to pursue the matter to a conclusion, and it was only in the 1970s that enough clues could be found to allow this collection of four representative stories.
“Behind a Mask ~or~ A Woman’s Power” leads off as the well-off Coventry family engages nineteen year old Scotswoman Jean Muir as a governess. It seems that for various reasons, the sixteen year old youngest daughter Bella has had her education neglected, and she needs her basics down before her social debut. Jean turns out to be a multi-talented young woman and quickly wins the hearts of most of the family. However, when she retires to her new bedroom, Jean removes her makeup, wig and false teeth to reveal that she’s actually thirty–and a very skilled actor.
Jean Muir uses her wiles to entice the family’s two brothers, turning them against each other. But in fact her ambitions are even higher. And in the end, despite some setbacks, Jean succeeds in her primary goal! This makes the story one of the relatively rare “bad guy wins” pieces of fiction. On the other hand, it’s hard to be unsympathetic to Jean; she’s been dealt a bad hand by life, and in a pre-feminist society, her options are limited. And to be honest, the ultimate outcome only leaves the Coventry family sadder but wiser.
One bit that may confuse younger readers–the elder brother buys the younger brother a “commission.” At the time, the British Army allowed rich people to simply buy a lieutenant’s rank. This worked out about as well as you’d think.
“Pauline’s Passion and Punishment” brings us to Cuba. Pauline is a woman scorned; the handsome but financially embarrassed Gilbert wooed her, then went on what he described as a short trip–to marry another woman! She comes up with a scheme to get revenge, and the handsome and wealthy Manuel is willing to marry her to help her get it. They catch up with Gilbert and his new bride Barbara at a resort hotel. Gilbert married “Babie” for money, only to find out it was tied up in a trust. Pauline happens to be an old schoolmate of Babie’s, so she and Manuel have a social “in” to hang out with Gilbert and his wife.
Quite honestly, Pauline dodged a bullet when Gilbert dumped her; he’s a gambling addict, heavy drinker and bad-tempered (warning for domestic abuse.) Pauline could have just left it at showing how much better a couple she and Manuel were, living well as the best revenge. But she just can’t resist twisting the knife, and that leads to tragedy.
There’s a bit of ethnic stereotyping of the “Latins are hot-blooded” type. This story is illustrated with woodcuts from the original publication.
“The Mysterious Key ~and~ What It Opened” brings us back to Britain. Lord Trevlyn and his wife are about to have their first child when a messenger arrives. We do not find out immediately what message was brought, but at the end of the night, Lord Trevlyn is dead of a heart attack, Lady Trevlyn is prostate with shock (and her health never entirely recovers) and Lillian is born.
The story skips ahead to Lillian’s early adolescence, when a mysterious but very polite boy named Paul turns up and becomes a servant for the Trevlyn family. He and Lillian get on quite well, but it’s clear that he has secrets, and then vanishes one night.
Several years later, Paul turns up again with the name Paolo Talbot. He has made his fortune in Italy, and has returned to Britain with his cousin Helene. Helene is blind (at one point mistaken for mentally handicapped by an uneducated person, who uses what was at the time the polite term, but “idiot” is no longer acceptable.) Lillian thinks Paul is honor-bound to marry Helene, but the truth is far more convoluted.
This story is the weakest of the set, and could have used some punching up.
“The Abbot’s Ghost ~or~ Maurice Treherne’s Temptation” is a Christmas story. The noble Treherne family has several guests staying over Christmastide. Love triangles abound as a result. Maurice has been confined to a wheelchair due to an accident, and it is deemed unlikely that he will ever walk again. He was also disinherited by his late uncle for initially unspecified reasons, and is dependent on the charity of his cousin Jasper, who inherited the title and money.
Christmas is a time for ghost stories, and the Treherne house happens to have a resident spook, an abbot who was turned out of his home by a distant ancestor of the Trehernes. It is said that an appearance by the abbot’s ghost foretells the death of a male member of the family. Sure enough, the ghost appears (or is it a hoax?) Who will die, and who will get married?
There’s an ethnic slur hurled by one of the characters, who is portrayed as unsympathetic at the time.
Three out of four stories involve possible cousin marriage; I wonder if that was really such a big thing back in the 1860s in Britain, or if Ms. Alcott just had a thing for that storytelling gimmick.
The writing is clear and direct, with a few obscure words and outdated pop culture references. While apparently pretty daring for their time, there’s little in here that will shock modern readers.
Recommended for more mature Alcott fans, and those who enjoy romantic thrillers.
According to Ms. Stern, many of these works were lost for years because of the psuedonym and the ephemeral nature of the periodicals they appeared in. She first became aware of them in the 1940s, but due to wartime conditions was unable to pursue the matter to a conclusion, and it was only in the 1970s that enough clues could be found to allow this collection of four representative stories.
“Behind a Mask ~or~ A Woman’s Power” leads off as the well-off Coventry family engages nineteen year old Scotswoman Jean Muir as a governess. It seems that for various reasons, the sixteen year old youngest daughter Bella has had her education neglected, and she needs her basics down before her social debut. Jean turns out to be a multi-talented young woman and quickly wins the hearts of most of the family. However, when she retires to her new bedroom, Jean removes her makeup, wig and false teeth to reveal that she’s actually thirty–and a very skilled actor.
Jean Muir uses her wiles to entice the family’s two brothers, turning them against each other. But in fact her ambitions are even higher. And in the end, despite some setbacks, Jean succeeds in her primary goal! This makes the story one of the relatively rare “bad guy wins” pieces of fiction. On the other hand, it’s hard to be unsympathetic to Jean; she’s been dealt a bad hand by life, and in a pre-feminist society, her options are limited. And to be honest, the ultimate outcome only leaves the Coventry family sadder but wiser.
One bit that may confuse younger readers–the elder brother buys the younger brother a “commission.” At the time, the British Army allowed rich people to simply buy a lieutenant’s rank. This worked out about as well as you’d think.
“Pauline’s Passion and Punishment” brings us to Cuba. Pauline is a woman scorned; the handsome but financially embarrassed Gilbert wooed her, then went on what he described as a short trip–to marry another woman! She comes up with a scheme to get revenge, and the handsome and wealthy Manuel is willing to marry her to help her get it. They catch up with Gilbert and his new bride Barbara at a resort hotel. Gilbert married “Babie” for money, only to find out it was tied up in a trust. Pauline happens to be an old schoolmate of Babie’s, so she and Manuel have a social “in” to hang out with Gilbert and his wife.
Quite honestly, Pauline dodged a bullet when Gilbert dumped her; he’s a gambling addict, heavy drinker and bad-tempered (warning for domestic abuse.) Pauline could have just left it at showing how much better a couple she and Manuel were, living well as the best revenge. But she just can’t resist twisting the knife, and that leads to tragedy.
There’s a bit of ethnic stereotyping of the “Latins are hot-blooded” type. This story is illustrated with woodcuts from the original publication.
“The Mysterious Key ~and~ What It Opened” brings us back to Britain. Lord Trevlyn and his wife are about to have their first child when a messenger arrives. We do not find out immediately what message was brought, but at the end of the night, Lord Trevlyn is dead of a heart attack, Lady Trevlyn is prostate with shock (and her health never entirely recovers) and Lillian is born.
The story skips ahead to Lillian’s early adolescence, when a mysterious but very polite boy named Paul turns up and becomes a servant for the Trevlyn family. He and Lillian get on quite well, but it’s clear that he has secrets, and then vanishes one night.
Several years later, Paul turns up again with the name Paolo Talbot. He has made his fortune in Italy, and has returned to Britain with his cousin Helene. Helene is blind (at one point mistaken for mentally handicapped by an uneducated person, who uses what was at the time the polite term, but “idiot” is no longer acceptable.) Lillian thinks Paul is honor-bound to marry Helene, but the truth is far more convoluted.
This story is the weakest of the set, and could have used some punching up.
“The Abbot’s Ghost ~or~ Maurice Treherne’s Temptation” is a Christmas story. The noble Treherne family has several guests staying over Christmastide. Love triangles abound as a result. Maurice has been confined to a wheelchair due to an accident, and it is deemed unlikely that he will ever walk again. He was also disinherited by his late uncle for initially unspecified reasons, and is dependent on the charity of his cousin Jasper, who inherited the title and money.
Christmas is a time for ghost stories, and the Treherne house happens to have a resident spook, an abbot who was turned out of his home by a distant ancestor of the Trehernes. It is said that an appearance by the abbot’s ghost foretells the death of a male member of the family. Sure enough, the ghost appears (or is it a hoax?) Who will die, and who will get married?
There’s an ethnic slur hurled by one of the characters, who is portrayed as unsympathetic at the time.
Three out of four stories involve possible cousin marriage; I wonder if that was really such a big thing back in the 1860s in Britain, or if Ms. Alcott just had a thing for that storytelling gimmick.
The writing is clear and direct, with a few obscure words and outdated pop culture references. While apparently pretty daring for their time, there’s little in here that will shock modern readers.
Recommended for more mature Alcott fans, and those who enjoy romantic thrillers.
March 1, 2026
I recently learned of books written by Louisa May Alcott under the nom de plume as A.M. Barnard and I HAD to read one. Less than 100 pages and a delight!
April 8, 2011
Here is another side of Lousia May Alcott. How many readers know she wrote "blood and thunder tales," as she called them, six years before "Little Women," in a dire effort to make some money? The first of her Gothic novelettes,"Pauline's Passion and Punishment," written anonymously, was entered in a newspaper contest and netted her $100. Most of the others were written under the pseudonym of A. M. Barnard and provided her a livelihood for many years. She wrote in her journal, "I enjoy romancing to suit myself; and though my tales are silly, they are not bad; and my sinners have a good spot somewhere." Probably the best of this genre is "Behind a Mask" in which a calculating woman of 30 (who appears to be 19)uses drama, deceit and charm to get a husband, title and money. The stories are extremely good--even though I am not fond of Gothic tales--well-written, well paced, suspenseful, with characters of flesh and blood.
September 17, 2012
The wealthy Coventry family hires a captivating young governess named Jean Muir. Talented, witty, passionate and wise, one by one they fall under her spell. However, readers soon discover that Jean is not all that she seems. Will the Coventrys discover the truth before it is too late?
"Behind a Mask" is supposed to be a thriller, but to me it felt like a Bronte novel (which is to say, possibly thrilling to the average ninteenth century Catherine Morland type). I actually liked it quite a lot more than "Little Women", the book for which Louisa May Alcott is best known. It was exciting, and almost as enticing as it's heroine. And what a character! I don't know whether to think about her with repulsion or awe...or both. It's a short book, and I'd especially suggest it to Alcott, Bronte, or even Austen fans looking for a darker version of the classic poor-but-brilliant governess tale.
P.S. There's an excellent recording of this at librivox.org!
"Behind a Mask" is supposed to be a thriller, but to me it felt like a Bronte novel (which is to say, possibly thrilling to the average ninteenth century Catherine Morland type). I actually liked it quite a lot more than "Little Women", the book for which Louisa May Alcott is best known. It was exciting, and almost as enticing as it's heroine. And what a character! I don't know whether to think about her with repulsion or awe...or both. It's a short book, and I'd especially suggest it to Alcott, Bronte, or even Austen fans looking for a darker version of the classic poor-but-brilliant governess tale.
P.S. There's an excellent recording of this at librivox.org!
August 27, 2008
These are so awesome. Louisa May Alcott, best known for the sweet and family-friendly girl's story "Little Women" had to earn a living like anybody else, and so, before she was famous, wrote a bunch of anonymous and pseudonymous thrillers for rag newspapers.
They're not anybody's idea of great literature. We've got your hashish use, scorned women trying to ruin their scorners, men marrying their wards only to learn too late that they realy do love them, insanity, and Hindu Thuggism. The plots are refreshingly pre-Freudian, with characters behaving in that delightfully nutty way that characterizes the gothic era. If it weren't such a fat book, it'd be a perfect beach read.
They're not anybody's idea of great literature. We've got your hashish use, scorned women trying to ruin their scorners, men marrying their wards only to learn too late that they realy do love them, insanity, and Hindu Thuggism. The plots are refreshingly pre-Freudian, with characters behaving in that delightfully nutty way that characterizes the gothic era. If it weren't such a fat book, it'd be a perfect beach read.
August 2, 2011
Loved it. I took a class in Victorian literature and this was one of the books we were assigned. I was flabbergasted when I read this. Who would have thought that Alcott was capable of writing such stories. This is the woman who gave us Little Women, and here she is telling us about deceitful women that drive men mad. During our class discussion my professor, who has a PhD in Victorian Lit, told us that Alcott actually hated writing Little Women. These short stories was the style and genre of writing she preferred. The only reason she wrote Little Women was because those types of books were more likely to sell and she needed the money.
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