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Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas
Nov 17, 2025 1:47 PM

Author:J. Le Fanu,Victor Sage

Uncle Silas

One of the most significant and intriguing Gothic novels of the Victorian period and is enjoyed today as a modern psychological thriller. In UNCLE SILAS (1864) Le Fanu brought up to date Mrs Radcliffe's earlier tales of virtue imprisoned and menacedby unscrupulous schemers. The narrator, Maud Ruthyn, is a 17 year old orphan left in the care of her fearful uncle, Silas. Together with his boorish son and a sinister French governess, Silas plots to kill Maud and claim her fortune. The novel established Le Fanu as a master of horror fiction.

Reviews

Outstanding, a sheer pleasure to read. Dunmore is a remarkable storyteller

—— Daily Mail

Part love story, part tragedy . . . Dunmore on dazzling form. Everyone should read her work

—— Independent on Sunday

Every character is richly drawn and makes for compelling reading ... top-quality fiction

—— Daily Express

Richly ambitious . . . there isn't a dull page. A remarkable achievement

—— Scotsman

Extraordinary . . . combines a luminous delicacy of observation with raw emotional power to haunting effect

—— Sunday Telegraph

Vivid and exciting . . . Dunmore creates a beautiful sense of stillness . . . she conveys a passion for Finland's icy landscape

—— Observer

Beautifully written . . . a story about us all

—— Evening Standard

A very human and profoundly moving introduction to one of the darkest moments in history.

—— The Good Book Guide

Seven Lies...has a way of enlarging the spirit and refreshing the mind far more comprehensively than many books with twice its 200 pages

—— James Buchan , Guardian

[T]his seems to be an artful evocation of the effect of totalitarianism on the individual. But if this sounds drably psychological, I am doing the novel a disservice: it is short, intense, powerful and superbly crafted

—— Chris Power , The Times

Intricately plotted and structured, its prose both elegant and poised, Seven Lies could be read as a fable about the political and spiritual corruption endemic in a totalitarian state. It is, however, very much concerned with the human cost of deception and betrayal

—— Tim Parks , Sunday Times

A brilliant and darkly funny tale of politics and paranoia

—— Christina Patterson , Independent

A must-read for empty nesters ... this is Trollope at her most poignant

—— Guernsey Now
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