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The Ebony Frame
A man inherits a property where he discovers a portrait of a woman that will change his life forever.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1893
2 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
E. Nesbit
1,037 books999 followers
Edith Nesbit
(married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 18, 2017
This little creeper asks what would you do to be with the person you love.
April 30, 2025
4.25⭐
The tale revolves around a man named Henry Devigne, who inherits a house filled with antique treasures. Among these is a striking ebony frame with a portrait of an enchanting woman. Henry is inexplicably drawn to the portrait and soon discovers a mysterious connection between the woman in the painting
and himself. The narrative unfolds as the painting serves as a bridge between the present and the mystical past, unveiling a tragic love story intertwined with fate, loss, and the supernatural.
The tale revolves around a man named Henry Devigne, who inherits a house filled with antique treasures. Among these is a striking ebony frame with a portrait of an enchanting woman. Henry is inexplicably drawn to the portrait and soon discovers a mysterious connection between the woman in the painting
and himself. The narrative unfolds as the painting serves as a bridge between the present and the mystical past, unveiling a tragic love story intertwined with fate, loss, and the supernatural.
March 13, 2020
This is my first reading of anything written by Edith Nesbit, it certainly won’t be my last. This was an exceptionally well done short story. The longing and the loss the characters feel is palpable. Making this a story well worth the short time it takes to read.
January 14, 2021
It’s really odd to think that the beloved children’s book author Edith Nesbit ventured into the realm of the supernatural. Overall it was a rather odd short story, but because of it I found a Spotify podcast with audio recordings of classics, so it’s still a win in my books.
December 22, 2022
Creepy, disturbing, awful! Since I suppose that’s rather the point, I have to say that this little horror story is probably pretty good. A morally weak protagonist, a sensual mystery woman, a demonic bargain . . . this may not be my cup of tea, but many horror fans will find much to like here. The writing is solid, and the plot keeps driving forward to its ultimate conclusion.
September 4, 2021
Mr. Devigne inherits a house with old furniture and a stuffed attic (“lumber room”) from his Aunt Dorcas. He finds two paintings bound together, facing each other. One portrait bears a striking resemblance to himself. Another is of a woman in black velvet next to a table full of scientific instruments Mr. Devigne doesn’t understand. He is captivated by her. Late at night, while he is neither sleepy nor drunk, he holds out his arms to the painting and wishes she were a woman, not merely a likeness, and would come to him.
Oh, my friend. Be careful what you wish for.
On a second read, I find I’ve grown fonder of this little gothic tale. It is unapologetically melodramatic, with stories of witchcraft, deals with the devil, and surrendering one’s hopes of heaven. All the same, author Nesbit offers the reader al bit of humor.
I like this more on the second reading than I did the first time through.
Oh, my friend. Be careful what you wish for.
On a second read, I find I’ve grown fonder of this little gothic tale. It is unapologetically melodramatic, with stories of witchcraft, deals with the devil, and surrendering one’s hopes of heaven. All the same, author Nesbit offers the reader al bit of humor.
I like this more on the second reading than I did the first time through.
September 9, 2019
Fun to read some horror by an author who is best known for children's books. This is not very scary by modern standards, but I enjoyed it.
December 4, 2019
Obsession! The Devil! Old-fashiondy horror which doesn't feel scary in a modern context! I wanted to smack the main character at more than one point...but I definitely think that was the point.
January 15, 2023
This delicious gothic tale can be read and interpreted in many different ways. For example, it is worth mentioning that it was published three years subsequent to the publication of Wilde's controversial novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, another fin-de-siècle work which had featured an accursed portrait and a young person of exquisite personal beauty. In both cases, the portrait and its owner were destroyed in a symbolic allusion to the death and degeneration of true art in the midst of a decadent generation that knew not how to value and read into it.
The story can also be read from the respective lenses of psychoanalysis and socio-economy. Mr. Devigne's experience amidst the lower middle-classes is tinged by an explicit bitterness he describes himself at the beginning of the narrative. Thus, when the money of his late aunt had saved him from the clutches of poverty, he admitted that his attraction towards Mildred, the woman he was then courting, had lost its luster. Before the inheritance, Mildred had been a solace and a comfort, but afterwards she merely became the almost unwanted link to his old hated life.
Thus, when the two portraits were found, he immediately associated himself with one of them, and identified the other as the prototype of a perfect mate. In this manner, the whole episode can be read as fits of hallucination or even dreams prompted by the man's repressed desire to break free from his engagement, and at the same time his unwillingness to do so at the expense of his character even though he wanted nothing else more fervently, which is clearly distinguishable in his final words of indifference towards both his wife and marital life.
The story can also be read from the respective lenses of psychoanalysis and socio-economy. Mr. Devigne's experience amidst the lower middle-classes is tinged by an explicit bitterness he describes himself at the beginning of the narrative. Thus, when the money of his late aunt had saved him from the clutches of poverty, he admitted that his attraction towards Mildred, the woman he was then courting, had lost its luster. Before the inheritance, Mildred had been a solace and a comfort, but afterwards she merely became the almost unwanted link to his old hated life.
Thus, when the two portraits were found, he immediately associated himself with one of them, and identified the other as the prototype of a perfect mate. In this manner, the whole episode can be read as fits of hallucination or even dreams prompted by the man's repressed desire to break free from his engagement, and at the same time his unwillingness to do so at the expense of his character even though he wanted nothing else more fervently, which is clearly distinguishable in his final words of indifference towards both his wife and marital life.
December 4, 2025
I loved this story. Creepy. Haunting. Mystical. A covenant with the Devil. Lost souls destined to wander in sorrow. Eternal unrequited love. A macabre atmosphere. Even a grisly witch burning.
It's my kind of Gothic horror story.
There was a point where Mr. Devigne, while attempting to rescue his true love, ends up rescuing Mildred by mistake. When he realizes just whom is really in his arms, he dejectedly states: "It was Mildred." And I literally laughed out loud. I thought, how many married couples have said the same thing on their wedding night?
The writing was beautiful and moving. And I was captivated by Mr. Devigne's sense of loss and sorrow. Reality never seems to have the same wonderment as the haunting beauty of the imagined world.
It's my kind of Gothic horror story.
There was a point where Mr. Devigne, while attempting to rescue his true love, ends up rescuing Mildred by mistake. When he realizes just whom is really in his arms, he dejectedly states: "It was Mildred." And I literally laughed out loud. I thought, how many married couples have said the same thing on their wedding night?
The writing was beautiful and moving. And I was captivated by Mr. Devigne's sense of loss and sorrow. Reality never seems to have the same wonderment as the haunting beauty of the imagined world.
December 10, 2022
A young man’s inheritance includes a picture frame that encloses two pictures facing each other. Upon separating them, he finds himself looking at his own image on one, and at a beautiful woman in the other. Unnaturally besotted by her painting, he reframes it with the ebony frame. And unnatural it is, when she starts to exert a strange hold on him. This rather disturbing ghost story is definitely horrific, mostly by the request of the ghost. Still, it is interesting though vastly disturbing.
November 7, 2024
Το "The Ebony Frame" δημοσιεύτηκε για πρώτη φορά στο τεύχος Οκτωβρίου 1891 του περιοδικού Longman's. Επανεκδόθηκε στις ανθολογίες του E. Nesbit, Grime Tales, του 1893. Πρόκειται για ένα διήγημα, μια ανατριχιαστική ιστορία φαντασμάτων, που θα ενθουσιάσει τους λάτρεις του φανταστικού!
March 1, 2020
Houd je van gothic novels en Dorian Gray-toestanden, dan is dit gewoon een leuk verhaal.
May 10, 2020
Listened to this on Classic Tales Podcast.
May 21, 2020
Well-paced, creepy ghost story with something to say about turning romance into an idol. Haunting in more ways than one.
December 14, 2020
Creepy rather than scary, and well done in its simplicity. Worth the minimal investment of time.
February 19, 2021
Better than good, better than excellent, written by a aethereal being.
August 6, 2021
Well that was unexpectedly... tragic.
August 23, 2021
3.5 - This was a haunted story, in the sense that the main character's soul was haunted by his lover, separated by time.
He should have realized that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
He should have realized that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
December 29, 2021
Short and lovely. Don't know why it's rated low.
Read
March 9, 2022another of those obsessive love stories, for a dark nymph
April 26, 2022
Beautifully heartbreaking
March 3, 2024
A love triangle between Mr. Devigne, his betrothed, Mildred and a woman from a strangely past life whose portrait has the ebony frame of the title.
A feminist thread runs throughout the narrative.
A feminist thread runs throughout the narrative.
August 21, 2024
Nesbit Notes #3
Third Nesbit tale is a quick readable yarn, but not so memorable as the other one.
A decent tale.
Third Nesbit tale is a quick readable yarn, but not so memorable as the other one.
A decent tale.
December 10, 2024
A beautiful tale of love, loss, lust and unfulfilled desires. Truly magnificent, how the dramatic nuances greatly elevate a rather ordinary backdrop into fascinating heartbreaking romance.
May 23, 2025
This is a Victorian Gothic story.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews