Tales and Stories: Gothic Fiction (Annotated)

Unique Elements Detailed 19th Century Historical TimelineExplore the wonders and magic of this unforgettable masterpiece and take an exhilarating step back in time!Synopsis: Tales and Stories by English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, first published in 1891 is a collection of short stories. Shelley, not only a leading novelist of the 19th century also wrote various short stories, earning a reputation as a remarkable storyteller in all types of fiction. The stories within this collection are set against a variety of backdrops of medieval gentility, the wars and uprisings of her era, and detailed displays of nature. Her tales mark a pinnacle in the art of Gothic storytelling.Included in this collection you will find: The Sisters of Albano Ferdinando Eboli The Evil Eye The Dream The Mourner The False Rhyme A Tale of the Passions; or, The Death of Despina The Mortal Immortal Transformation The Swiss Peasant The Invisible Girl The Brother and Sister The Parvenue The Pole Euphrasia The Elder Son The PilgrimsExcerpt: ‘It was to see this beautiful lake that I made my last excursion before quitting Rome. The spring had nearly grown into summer, the trees were all in full but fresh green foliage, the vine-dresser was singing, perched among them, training his vines: the cicada had not yet begun her song, the heats therefore had not commenced; but at evening the fire-flies gleamed among the hills, and the cooing aziola assured us of what in that country needs no assurance—fine weather for the morrow. We set out early in the morning to avoid the heats, breakfasted at Albano, and till ten o’clock passed our time in visiting the Mosaic, the villa of Cicero, and other curiosities of the place. We reposed during the middle of the day in a tent elevated for us at the hill-top, whence we looked on the hill-embosomed lake, and the distant eminence crowned by a town with its church. Other villages and cottages were scattered among the foldings of mountains, and beyond we saw the deep blue sea of the southern poets, which received the swift and immortal Tiber, rocking it to repose among its devouring waves. The Coliseum falls and the Pantheon decays,—the very hills of Rome are perishing,—but the Tiber lives for ever, flows for ever, and for ever feeds the land-encircled Mediterranean with fresh waters.’