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The Virgin of the Seven Daggers: Excursions into Fantasy
The brutal Don Juan - an unrepentant sinner - makes a pact with the Virgin of the Seven Daggers. He promises to forever proclaim her supreme beauty and asks that in return she save him from damnation.
Emboldened by the deal and driven by insatiable greed, he embarks on a necromantic journey to an enchanted palace beneath the Alhambra. In an orgy of beasts, demons and slumbering infantas Don Juan is called upon to uphold his side of the bargain and in doing so lose everything his lustful heart desires.
Contents
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady
A Wedding Chest
Amour Dure
A Wicked Voice
The Legend of Madame Krasinska
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers
Emboldened by the deal and driven by insatiable greed, he embarks on a necromantic journey to an enchanted palace beneath the Alhambra. In an orgy of beasts, demons and slumbering infantas Don Juan is called upon to uphold his side of the bargain and in doing so lose everything his lustful heart desires.
Contents
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady
A Wedding Chest
Amour Dure
A Wicked Voice
The Legend of Madame Krasinska
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
6 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Vernon Lee
433 books120 followersViolet Paget, known by her pen name Vernon Lee, is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel, poetry and contributed to The Yellow Book. An engaged feminist, she always dressed à la garçonne, and was a member of the Union of democratic control.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 16, 2023
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady - as a lonely child, Alberic became fascinated with the tapestry which he later inhabits (3 stars)
A Wedding Chest - on the eve of a wedding, the bride is stolen by the lord's son (3 stars)
Amour Dure - a writer becomes entranced when researching the infamous Duchess Madea Da Carpi (3 stars)
A Wicked Voice - a conductor travels around Italy in search of inspiration; he soon stumbles upon the legend of Zaffirino who sang so beautifully that no woman was able to resist him and whose beauty rivaled their own (4 stars)
The Legend of Madame Krasinska - a painter and a nun by sheer happenstance reunite; their backstory is recorded by a writer (3 stars)
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers - Don Juan Gusman del Pulgar, Count of Miramor, goes forth to conquer a new target; the attitude towards Jews, Moors, and women is not really my cup of tea so I would've preferred the ending without the Virgin's intervention (2 stars)
Vernon Lee's writing is superb and atmospheric, perfect for legends and fairytales. I could've used less praising of saints though.
A Wedding Chest - on the eve of a wedding, the bride is stolen by the lord's son (3 stars)
Amour Dure - a writer becomes entranced when researching the infamous Duchess Madea Da Carpi (3 stars)
A Wicked Voice - a conductor travels around Italy in search of inspiration; he soon stumbles upon the legend of Zaffirino who sang so beautifully that no woman was able to resist him and whose beauty rivaled their own (4 stars)
The Legend of Madame Krasinska - a painter and a nun by sheer happenstance reunite; their backstory is recorded by a writer (3 stars)
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers - Don Juan Gusman del Pulgar, Count of Miramor, goes forth to conquer a new target; the attitude towards Jews, Moors, and women is not really my cup of tea so I would've preferred the ending without the Virgin's intervention (2 stars)
Vernon Lee's writing is superb and atmospheric, perfect for legends and fairytales. I could've used less praising of saints though.
June 22, 2013
If you love Poe's style but always wished he had set all of his stories in Italy... jackpot.
February 8, 2022
A collection of six stories by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)
♠ Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady (1896) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ A Wedding Chest (1904) ⭐⭐⭐
♠ Amore Dure (1887) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ A Wicked Voice (1890) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ The Legend of Madame Krasinska (1890) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ The Virgin of the Seven Daggers (1889) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady (1896) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ A Wedding Chest (1904) ⭐⭐⭐
♠ Amore Dure (1887) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ A Wicked Voice (1890) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ The Legend of Madame Krasinska (1890) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
♠ The Virgin of the Seven Daggers (1889) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
August 15, 2012
"These are supernatural horror stories full of things that cause obsessions."
read more at: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk...
read more at: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk...
October 25, 2018
My review of the short-story "A Wicked Voice": https://theblankgarden.com/2018/10/25...
January 30, 2013
She writes like Cezanne paints, lots of colors and probably pretty shocking for its time. Is this review pretentious sounding? Probably, but still true. Loved it.
August 2, 2013
the short stories are lovely :)
June 15, 2014
Some gems. Some less than riveting tales. Worth the read if you life ekphrastic horror stories.
January 22, 2015
A great read for fans of fantasy short fiction and Gothic literature.
December 15, 2021
Thanks to Penguin cranking out a really handsome series of Gothic horror collections, I got to read that 19th century author lady, Vernon Lee, an author I have looked for in a many a bookstore, only to lament there just being too much Harper Lee (similar when I looked for Matthew Lewis basically everywhere, only to find piles of Sinclair Lewis).
Old Vern (Violet Paget), was raised in Italy, so most of these are about foreigners in Italy, except for the last story, which is set in Spain. The descriptions worship the various Italian settings, and I think we end up in Venice twice. It all stands to reason, she wrote what she knew.
“Amour Dure”, involes a Pole in Italy obsessing over a long dead woman who had all her lovers murdered to further her power, and then, possibly, invoking her ghost. In fact, most of these stories involve obsessing over supernatural women. The first and last tales, which I consider the best here, are exemplary of this, being “Prince Albertic and the Snake Lady”, and the title story “The Virgin of the Seven Daggers”. In the first, a series of courtiers plot and scheme against one another, all while trying to discover why young Prince Albertic won't marry. The title story reminded me of a number of authors and was full of supernatural resplendence, passion, and some sweet imagery! Think Clark Ashton Smith and Ambrose Bierce.
“A Wicked Voice” involves a composer who is menaced by the specter of a singer who could kill with his voice. This one might just be a tale of madness, but the cool part is that we will never really know, much like our narrator won't. “The Legend of Madame Krasinska” is along similar lines and concerns a woman who thinks she is being taken over by the personality of a woman who killed herself.
This leaves “The Wedding Chest”, which is violent and has some of the same mythic quality as the rest, but is, in some ways, more of a straightforward thing.
I recommend this book largely for the bookends, although,there's good stuff in the middle too. Get ready for fat slabs of emotive description and a hot topping of Italian scenery. The title story made a wonderful exclamation point. I imagine that Vern here will get further attention from me in future.
Old Vern (Violet Paget), was raised in Italy, so most of these are about foreigners in Italy, except for the last story, which is set in Spain. The descriptions worship the various Italian settings, and I think we end up in Venice twice. It all stands to reason, she wrote what she knew.
“Amour Dure”, involes a Pole in Italy obsessing over a long dead woman who had all her lovers murdered to further her power, and then, possibly, invoking her ghost. In fact, most of these stories involve obsessing over supernatural women. The first and last tales, which I consider the best here, are exemplary of this, being “Prince Albertic and the Snake Lady”, and the title story “The Virgin of the Seven Daggers”. In the first, a series of courtiers plot and scheme against one another, all while trying to discover why young Prince Albertic won't marry. The title story reminded me of a number of authors and was full of supernatural resplendence, passion, and some sweet imagery! Think Clark Ashton Smith and Ambrose Bierce.
“A Wicked Voice” involves a composer who is menaced by the specter of a singer who could kill with his voice. This one might just be a tale of madness, but the cool part is that we will never really know, much like our narrator won't. “The Legend of Madame Krasinska” is along similar lines and concerns a woman who thinks she is being taken over by the personality of a woman who killed herself.
This leaves “The Wedding Chest”, which is violent and has some of the same mythic quality as the rest, but is, in some ways, more of a straightforward thing.
I recommend this book largely for the bookends, although,there's good stuff in the middle too. Get ready for fat slabs of emotive description and a hot topping of Italian scenery. The title story made a wonderful exclamation point. I imagine that Vern here will get further attention from me in future.
November 10, 2017
It's safe to say I'm pretty bummed that I bought this book. It's supposed to be short-story horror, which is my FAVORITE. These stories were written in the late 1800's/early 1900's and I've read plenty of horror from that time period, so I knew what to expect. However I just felt super let down by all of these. I honestly didn't truly enjoy any of them. The only one I felt was halfway decent was the Snake Lady story... but I mean it still wasn't great. I'll probably only end up keeping this one on my shelf because I like the cover so much.
November 9, 2019
Equal parts travelogue, religious/art history primer, and gothic horror.
Comprised of 6 short stories:
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady
A Wedding Chest
Amour Dure
A Wicked Voice,
The Legend of Madame Krasinska,
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers.
Of these, Amour Dure was especially captivating, I savored every page. A Wedding Chest was a bit of a low point, but perhaps that is only when compared to the other evocative stories here.
If you stumble across this tome in a used bookstore like I did, pick it up. Perhaps you’ll be touched by the ghost of Vernon Lee as well.
Comprised of 6 short stories:
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady
A Wedding Chest
Amour Dure
A Wicked Voice,
The Legend of Madame Krasinska,
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers.
Of these, Amour Dure was especially captivating, I savored every page. A Wedding Chest was a bit of a low point, but perhaps that is only when compared to the other evocative stories here.
If you stumble across this tome in a used bookstore like I did, pick it up. Perhaps you’ll be touched by the ghost of Vernon Lee as well.
May 8, 2022
Old school terror based on transgressions against morality, which comes across as judgmental. People are set up to get what they deserve for swerving from public morality, decency and norms. Crosses out the "damns" and "goddamns" in the text but has several stories where someone refers to certain women as sluts. Apparently, slut shaming was a big thing when this book was written. It's like conservative christian horror.
December 29, 2023
Good shit
October 23, 2014
Abandoned. It's a collection of short stories from I think the eighteen hundreds. The first three I read were all about Italian renaissance families and I just don't give a shit. nothing get's weird enough to really hold my attention and it is just a chore to read. I might give it another shot some day, but I have books I'm more interested in reading waiting to be read.
March 25, 2016
It was alright. Although I quite like Poe; this collection isn't quite in the same league. The two stories I enjoyed the most were the first (about the snake lady) and the third (amore dure). The rest were pretty mediocre experiences for me.
April 14, 2017
This was a chore.
Imagine being in a restaurant and ordering what you think is a nice steak, but instead getting a measly, anemic slice of meat which is then buried under a mountain of garnish. Thus, you'll get the idea of how annoying this little collection is.
The actual plot of each story can be told in about five pages, but the author stretches each one out by about forty pages by talking at length about fruit, Italian Renaissance musicians, references to Virgil and the Bible, quotes from philosophers, etc. In other words, the actual 'story', the action, is nil compared to the vast unnecessary tangents that the author seems to flutter off to for pages on end, which thus makes reading each story incredibly tedious.
'Madame Krasinska' was probably the best of the stories, but that's mainly because it took me the least amount of time to get through and mainly stuck to by its narrative, which thus made the actual story more enjoyable.
Don't bother unless you need a sleeping aid.
Imagine being in a restaurant and ordering what you think is a nice steak, but instead getting a measly, anemic slice of meat which is then buried under a mountain of garnish. Thus, you'll get the idea of how annoying this little collection is.
The actual plot of each story can be told in about five pages, but the author stretches each one out by about forty pages by talking at length about fruit, Italian Renaissance musicians, references to Virgil and the Bible, quotes from philosophers, etc. In other words, the actual 'story', the action, is nil compared to the vast unnecessary tangents that the author seems to flutter off to for pages on end, which thus makes reading each story incredibly tedious.
'Madame Krasinska' was probably the best of the stories, but that's mainly because it took me the least amount of time to get through and mainly stuck to by its narrative, which thus made the actual story more enjoyable.
Don't bother unless you need a sleeping aid.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews