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In A Cellar
In A Cellar is a gothic horror novella written by Harriet Prescott Spofford. The story follows a young woman named Rosalie, who inherits a large, old house from her deceased uncle. She decides to move in and make it her home, but soon discovers a hidden cellar beneath the house. Despite warnings from the locals to stay away from it, Rosalie becomes increasingly curious about the cellar and eventually ventures down to explore it. What she finds there is a terrifying secret that has been hidden for generations, and she must confront the evil that lies within in order to save herself and those she loves. The story is filled with suspense, mystery, and horror, and explores themes of family secrets, betrayal, and the supernatural. Spofford's vivid descriptions and atmospheric writing style create a chilling and memorable reading experience.Why not continue with my coffee in the morning, my kings and cabinets and national chess at noon, my opera at night, and let the poor devil go? Why, but that justice is brought home to every member of society, -- that naked duty requires no shirking of such responsibility, -- that, had I failed here, the crime might, with reason, lie at my door and multiply, the criminal increase himself?This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
10 people want to read
About the author
Harriet Prescott Spofford
169 books13 followersHarriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford (April 3, 1835 – August 14, 1921) was a notable American writer remembered for her novels, poems and detective stories.
Born in Calais, Maine, in 1835 Spofford moved with her parents to Newburyport, Massachusetts, which was ever after her home, though she spent many of her winters in Boston and Washington, D.C. She attended the Putnam Free School in Newburyport, and Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire from 1853 to 1855. At Newburyport her prize essay on Hamlet drew the attention of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who soon became her friend, and gave her counsel and encouragement.
Spofford began writing after her parents became sick, sometimes working fifteen hours a day. She contributed story papers for small pay to Boston. In 1859, she sent a story about Parisian life entitled "In a Cellar" to Atlantic Monthly. The magazine's editor, James Russell Lowell, at first believed the story to be a translation and withheld it from publication. Reassured that it was original, he published it and it established her reputation. She became a welcome contributor to the chief periodicals of the United States, both of prose and poetry.
Spofford's fiction had very little in common with what was regarded as representative of the New England mind. Her gothic romances were set apart by luxuriant descriptions, and an unconventional handling of female stereotypes of the day. Her writing was ideal, intense in feeling. In her descriptions and fancies, she reveled in sensuous delights and every variety of splendor.[citation needed]
In 1865, she married Richard S. Spofford, a Boston lawyer. They lived on Deer Island overlooking the Merrimack River at Amesbury, where she died on August 14, 1921.
When Higginson asked Emily Dickinson whether she had read Spofford's work "Circumstance", Dickinson replied, "I read Miss Prescott's 'Circumstance,' but it followed me in the dark, so I avoided her."
Born in Calais, Maine, in 1835 Spofford moved with her parents to Newburyport, Massachusetts, which was ever after her home, though she spent many of her winters in Boston and Washington, D.C. She attended the Putnam Free School in Newburyport, and Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire from 1853 to 1855. At Newburyport her prize essay on Hamlet drew the attention of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who soon became her friend, and gave her counsel and encouragement.
Spofford began writing after her parents became sick, sometimes working fifteen hours a day. She contributed story papers for small pay to Boston. In 1859, she sent a story about Parisian life entitled "In a Cellar" to Atlantic Monthly. The magazine's editor, James Russell Lowell, at first believed the story to be a translation and withheld it from publication. Reassured that it was original, he published it and it established her reputation. She became a welcome contributor to the chief periodicals of the United States, both of prose and poetry.
Spofford's fiction had very little in common with what was regarded as representative of the New England mind. Her gothic romances were set apart by luxuriant descriptions, and an unconventional handling of female stereotypes of the day. Her writing was ideal, intense in feeling. In her descriptions and fancies, she reveled in sensuous delights and every variety of splendor.[citation needed]
In 1865, she married Richard S. Spofford, a Boston lawyer. They lived on Deer Island overlooking the Merrimack River at Amesbury, where she died on August 14, 1921.
When Higginson asked Emily Dickinson whether she had read Spofford's work "Circumstance", Dickinson replied, "I read Miss Prescott's 'Circumstance,' but it followed me in the dark, so I avoided her."
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November 10, 2018
This was first published in 1859 and it started the young author's long and prolific literary career. She was then still single and only twenty-four.
She chose to created a male main protagonist who narrates, moves in high society, with a precious diamond missing, and the character moves James Bond-like. He drops fancy French words and phrases here and there. There were no nuclear silos and mysterious underground tunnels then, so she made her character hide and wait in cellars for some suspenseful episodes. It most likely have aided her readers a lot for most houses at that time must have had cellars.
Rural folks with their cows and horses twenty-four hours a day must have found this a blast: a young woman writer talking like a man through her fiction at that time when the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne would loudly observe that "Generally, women write like emasculated men, and are only to be distinguished from male authors by greater feebleness and folly..."
More than 150 years old, this now got its first rating and review here at goodreads. From me.
I'll take a bow.
She chose to created a male main protagonist who narrates, moves in high society, with a precious diamond missing, and the character moves James Bond-like. He drops fancy French words and phrases here and there. There were no nuclear silos and mysterious underground tunnels then, so she made her character hide and wait in cellars for some suspenseful episodes. It most likely have aided her readers a lot for most houses at that time must have had cellars.
Rural folks with their cows and horses twenty-four hours a day must have found this a blast: a young woman writer talking like a man through her fiction at that time when the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne would loudly observe that "Generally, women write like emasculated men, and are only to be distinguished from male authors by greater feebleness and folly..."
More than 150 years old, this now got its first rating and review here at goodreads. From me.
I'll take a bow.
Displaying 1 of 1 review