Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Forgotten Author should be republished, reevaluated, December 14, 2000
This author (real name Violet Paget)seems somewhat forgotten. She was noted in her time (the late 19th and earlier 20th centuries)as a critic of art, architecture and aesthetics. Her friends and admirers included John Singer Sargent, Robert Browning, G B Shaw and Edith Wharton. Her supernatural stories are sometimes found in related anthologies.While probably not masterpieces of the genre, they are at least interesting and have an historical-geographical locale related to Vernon Lee's life and writings. "Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady" deals with a regal youth's infatuation with a family legend, that of a snake women with whom the prince becomes enraptured. "Amour Dure" recounts a Polish student's obsession with a lethal, 16th century Italian seductress.The stories are written with a literate precision which fails to evoke atmosphere. Her language nonetheless evidences intelligence and appreciation of the surroundings (Italy, Spain)in which they are set. Hopefully she will be reappreciated, republished and included more in anthologies of that difficult story form: the supernatural.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Six Intriguing Tales - Italian Art, Music, Architecture, and Horror, September 17, 2006
This collection, Supernatural Tales - Excursions into Fantasy, offers six intriguing stories by Vernon Lee: Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady, A Wedding Chest, Amour Dure, A Wicked Voice, The Legend of Madame Krasinska, and The Virgin of the Seven Daggers. A lengthy introduction is provided by Irene Cooper Willis. These tales were written from 1881 to 1913 and have appeared in various collections.
Five of these stories take place in Italy; decaying mansions and aging ruins seem somber and vaguely menacing. Vernon Lee's detailed descriptions of faded tapestries, darkened paintings, and crumbling architecture reflect her life long passion for Italian art, music, and architecture. The setting for the last story, The Virgin of the Seven Daggers, is in Grenada in the reign of Philip IV.
Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady: A worn and discolored tapestry depicting a disturbing vision - a woman that is part reptilian - fascinates unduly, almost obsessively, the young Prince Alberic, grandson to Duke Balthasar.
A Wedding Chest: This short tale reveals the ghastly history of art auction item no. 428, a much stained and damaged coffer intended for garments and jewels of a bride. Lee's imaginative tale is one of kidnapping and murder.
Amour Dure: This is a classic story of the evil that dieth not, and is perhaps the most frightening in this collection. A visiting scholar becomes increasingly obsessed with the legend of Medea Malatesta, a dangerous, seductively beautiful woman whose lovers remained hopelessly faithful until their death, even when betrayed and dying under torture.
A Wicked Voice: The singer Balthasar Cesari, known popularly as Zaffrino, was said to have made a pact with the devil in return for vocal gifts greater than any singer, ancient or modern. A visiting Norwegian composer unwisely scoffs at this legend.
The Legend of Madame Krasinka: It is said that on occasion the dead are forgiving for abuse and mistreatment in life. Perhaps.
The Virgin of the Seven Daggers: Don Juan Gusman del Pulgar, count of Miramor, in his prayers admits that he has committed every crime without faltering, including murder, perjury, blasphemy, and sacrilege; he only asks of Madonna of the Seven Daggers to save him from eternal fire. In return, he promises to assert by tongue and sword to all that no lady was ever so fair as our Lady of the Seven Daggers. This account relates the rather unusual circumstances in which Don Juan honors his promise.
Another Recommendation: A Dover publication, Five Victorian Ghost Novels (edited by E. F. Bleiler), includes a ghost novel by Vernon Lee. A Phantom Lover (1890) is quite remarkable for its detailed characterizations and psychological complexity. It would not be an exaggeration to compare A Phantom Lover with the literary ghost stories by Henry James. Much like The Turn of the Screw, this short novel engenders multiple interpretations and warrants repeated readings. A Phantom Lover was also published under the title Oke of Okehurst.
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