This select anthology spans 200 years of Anglo-Irish literature by women writers, ranging from the age of Romanticism to the modern era. Its short stories recount episodes of direst tragedy and triumphant heroism, offering a remarkable depth of experience. Rich in the splendors of Gothic fiction, the tales abound in family curses and haunted manors, melodramatic acts of wild passion, and frequent visitations by ghosts and other supernatural creatures.
Featured stories include George Eliot's horror tale, "The Lifted Veil"; "The Mortal Immortal," a fable by Frankenstein creator Mary Shelley; Mary Braddon's "The Cold Embrace"; and Elizabeth Bowen's "The Demon Lover." Additional contributors include Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, Rosa Mulholland, Jane Barlow, Ella D'Arcy, May Sinclair, and others.