Tales of the Uneasy

Edited, with an introduction, by John Pelan. Jacket art is by Allen Koszowski.

From here earliest days, Violet Hunt (1866–1942) lived a life steeped in art and literature. Her father was an artist who was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, while her mother was a novelist. Although the young Violet was groomed for a career as an artist, she soon switched to the world of letters, where she associated with, and was a friend of, such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, H. G. Wells, May Sinclair, and Ford Madox Ford, with whom she lived for several years.

Perhaps the greatest literary influence on Hunt was Henry James; and when Hunt began writing her 'tales of the uneasy' it was James's elegant excursions into the genre upon which she drew. Her tales explore issues of sin, guilt, and personal relationships which do not conform to the standard pattern of their time. The supernatural, when it intrudes, does so subtly, yet with chilling style.

This volume, the first of two containing Violet Hunt's complete supernatural fiction, contains all nine stories from Tales of the Uneasy, originally published in 1911. One of the pieces — the novella 'Tiger Skin' — was subsequently revised and published separately in 1924, and editor John Pelan has chosen this later text for inclusion here. In his introduction he explains why; and also looks at the uneasy life in letters of Violet Hunt, a woman whose experiences were just as fascinating as any of her fictions.

Contents:

• Introduction by John Pelan: 'Violet Hunt — An Uneasy Life in Letters'
• The Telegram
• The Operation
• The Memoir
• The Prayer
• The Coach
• The Blue Bonnet
• The Witness
• The Barometer
• The Tiger-Skin