A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories: Enriched edition. Tragic Tales of Victorian Resilience and Independence

by Mrs. Oliphant

A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Mrs. Oliphant, a Scottish novelist and historical writer. "When Mrs Brunton's bonnet with the long veil was taken off, and her long cloak, which was half covered with crape, she presented a very agreeable figure in a well-fitting dress, which indeed was black, but in no special way gloomy, and pleasantly "threw up" her light brown hair and pretty complexion."

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".

Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

Reviews

[Joan Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Margaret Oliphant's death in June 1897, the publishing house of William Blackwood and Sons located some of her finest stories (previously published in various periodicals) and produced this collection, with an introduction by James Barrie.
Available for free download at www.oliphantfiction.com

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed John and The Whirl of Youth from this collection. They had characters that were connected to Oliphant's earlier story, "The Story of a Wedding Tour," but with some differences each time. Great stories!

[Shaun Rylands · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished reading the short fiction of Margaret Oliphant. A Victorian novelist who was fashionable but then fell into obscurity and who explores the ambiguity and psychological complexity of the relations between the genders. "What happiness is there which is not purchased with more or less of pain?"