A collection of twelve short stories and two novelettes from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, organized around the theme of the female hypnotist. The book also contains an extensive annotated bibliography of 19th and early 20th century novels, dimes novels, and short stories having female hypnotists/mesmerists as characters.
Donald K. Hartman’s The Female Hypnotist: Stories from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras (2025), is the fourth volume published by Themes & Settings in Fiction Press in its Hypnotism in Victorian and Edwardian Era Fiction series, following Death by Suggestion, The Hypno-Ripper and The Hypnotic Tales of Rafael Sabatini. This chunky collection of twelve short stories and two novelettes, by a mixture of well-known and obscure authors, explores an unusual niche of Victorian and Edwardian literature.
In the fiction of the period, both male and female hypnotists possess preternatural abilities to dominate others’ minds, reflecting the fascination with mesmerism and the emerging discipline of psychology. Blurring science and the supernatural, they embody fears about the erosion of individual agency in a society of increasingly rapid complexity and sense of alienation. However, the female hypnotist was a subset in a genre overshadowed by their male counterparts.
Hypnotists, male and female, are generally depicted as enigmatic figures wielding unnatural psychological power in stories tied to themes of control, morality, and societal anxieties. Unsurprisingly, male hypnotists align with ideals of male supremacy, though abuse of the gift can lead to their downfall, thereby reestablishing the moral order. Female hypnotists, on the other hand, operate outside traditional roles.
Their power is symptomatic of concern about the “New Woman” increasingly entering the public sphere, the developing campaign for women’s suffrage, and anxieties about them wielding influence. Women as manipulative conflicted with the ideal of passive femininity, exemplified by the notion of the “angel in the house”, making the female hypnotist a potent, if displaced, symbol of disruption.
Allied to perceived feminine wiles, their use of hypnotism challenges patriarchal norms, but they are commonly punished or demonised for their agency, denoting a certain discomfort with strong independent women. Thus Madame Valprez in Emeric Hulme-Beaman’s ‘Madame Valprez: A Monte Carlo Romance’ is robbed by death of the opportunity to be the first woman to break the bank there.
The same fate befalls the unbalanced Miss Penclosa in Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Parasite’, whose increasingly sadistic tricks on her hapless love object demonstrate that the threat could be all the more dangerous because of what was considered to be a lack of women’s rationality. Some manage to evade justice, for example B L Farjeon’s murderous ‘Philip Darrell’s Wife’, who is free to carry on her nefarious plots. In the anonymous ‘An Apt Pupil: A Short Story’, a complacent professor underestimates a young woman, to his financial cost. Men’s vigilance, such examples suggest, can never sleep.
While the female hypnotists vary in age and appearance, there are certain features that recur. Often physically striking rather than conventionally attractive, they blend charm or beauty as a mask with the ability to entice the men who come into their orbit, and by extension subvert the natural – i.e. patriarchal – order. They may be bohemian, or foreign (hinting at anxieties about infiltration). They can be captivating, exotic and mysterious, with pale complexions that hint at an unhealthy vampiric association yet enhance their seductive mystique. Naturally, as their primary weapon they tend to have striking eyes, and Dick Donovan’s characterisation of his predatory adventuress as ‘The Woman with the “Oily Eyes”’ is atypical.
Where the woman is depicted as belonging to high society, this enhances her appeal and authority. A contrast is the older woman depicted as an evil hag/witch, as in ‘Suggested Suicide’, by Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian, a menacing persona emphasising the divide between beauty disguising evil (warning that looks can be deceptive) and a more obviously sinister intent.
Female hypnotists may be inherently malevolent, or initially have neutral or ambiguous motives but become gradually corrupted as the narrative progresses. This is sometimes explicitly linked to supernatural ability, reinforcing the perception of them as unnatural or dangerous. The title of the collection’s first story, by Louisa May Alcott (a long way from Little Women), ‘A Pair of Eyes; or, Modern Magic’, makes the link explicit, while reducing the tragic Agatha to her salient feature.
Unusually, in ‘A Scientific Revenge’, again by a female writer, Marie Madison, a woman uses her talent, in conjunction with a telepathic ability, to seek justice for her murdered father with no hint it is abnormal. At the conclusion she is said to be studying to enter the medical profession, in which she would be able to use hypnotism for her patients’ benefit. In Richard Marsh’s ‘The Burglar’s Blunder’, a woman (who smokes, so definitely a New Woman!) is able to gain the advantage over, and humiliate, a burglar, but as he is a working-class criminal the middle-class reader might be assumed to have little sympathy for his plight.
Hartman’s editorial decision to spotlight female characters is a refreshing reclamation of a marginalised perspective, offering insight into how authors of both sexes grappled with the idea of women wielding control over others – mostly men. Amy Ellingham underscores the theme in her foreword to the collection, but these stories’ subversion of traditional dynamics, by placing women in positions of control, was frequently recuperated by a tragic element.
The lengthy annotated bibliography, including many stories which originally appeared in obscure publications, lists works published between 1840 and 1910 featuring female hypnotists or mesmerists, indicating Hartman’s immersion in the subject, and it serves as an important guide for those interested in further exploration of the genre. Links to online sources are provided where available.
Naturally the stories vary in terms of quality, but no entry outstays its welcome, and anyone interested in the fictional treatment of hypnotism in the period will find much to enjoy. Possessors of Death by Suggestion should be warned they will find some overlap in contents, but it is still worth having both volumes. Judging by the bibliography, there is plenty of scope for further additions to the Hypnotism in Victorian and Edwardian Era Fiction series.
In this absorbing collection, Hartman has gathered together twelve short stories and two novelettes whose primary theme and characters are female hypnotists and/or mesmerists. The tales move between genres but broadly encompass thriller, horror, and mystery, all with elements of the supernatural or the unexplained, and are often driven by revenge or passion.
Having read two of Hartman’s previous compilations, which are variations on the theme of hypnotism, I was fully expecting another thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating selection, and The Female Hypnotist does not disappoint.
Indeed, it operates on several levels. The stories are supremely immersive and engaging, but what is of further interest is the number of striking similarities in how the subject of female hypnotists is treated in the literature of this period.
Although the framework of the narratives differs from tale to tale, Hartman has skilfully sifted stories, some relatively obscure, that not only explore various aspects of his theme but also complement each other, while providing contrast that enhances reading enjoyment and deliberation.
The opener, A Pair of Eyes by Louisa May Alcott, is quite a departure from Little Women, featuring the seductive yet sinister Agatha Eure. It’s a strong opener that sets the tone for the following tales. In the majority of the stories, the eyes of the female hypnotist are intrinsic to her mesmerism and are brought to life with a luminous array of alluring descriptions.
The tales flicker between first and third-person perspectives, usually that of a male friend to the hypnotist’s victim, who, quite often, is witnessing the engagement or marriage to the woman. The women themselves, with a couple of exceptions, are all enigmatic, well-to-do ladies of independent means and mysterious backgrounds.
From a purely literary aspect, The Female Hypnotist is a treat for devotees of works from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Hartman has carefully chosen tales that showcase the wondrously elegant and intricate prose of the age with its beautifully calibrated dialogue, vivid detail, and emotional richness.
There are two inclusions from Arthur Conan Doyle, John Barrington Cowles, and The Parasite, both sharply clever and written with sophistication and wit.
The Burglar’s Blunder by Richard Marsh departs from the rest of the tales and is gently amusing, with a touch of farce. Suggested Suicide by Erckmann-Chatrian is a creepy slice of German Gothic horror, whose hypnotist is not the usual compelling young lady with shining eyes.
Nonetheless, the stories conclude with the wonderfully monikered "The Woman with the ‘Oily Eyes’, which is one of the novelettes and possibly the most chilling.
Hartman has presented the book with utmost consideration, providing thorough Biographical Notes and a Notes on the Texts section, as well as a comprehensive Bibliography.
Scrupulously curated and well-selected, The Female Hypnotist: Stories from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras is a mesmerizingly good collection. Highly recommended.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
I have not read a lot of stories from the Victorian or Edwardian periods so I appreciated the opportunity to explore the works of writers I haven’t encountered before. I’m sure many readers will enjoy this book for the same reason.
My favourite thing about this collection was being able to compare how the female hypnotists were portrayed across the different stories.
I was surprised by how many of the authors used the same descriptions for their characters. Typically the hypnotists are described as young women with long dark hair and pale complexions. Instead of a plain girl from a humble background, the women tend to be high society ladies who are either stunning beautiful or prettily attractive in a way that fascinates many of the male characters. The exception to this seeming rule is only broken when the hypnotist is an old woman with a classic ‘evil hag/witch’ type appearance. The stories definitely follow the stereotype where a dark-haired character equals a mysterious nature. In this case I’m unsure if the authors were being inspired by their peers or possibly by earlier characters from folklore like Morgan Le Fey.
I have to be honest, I don’t find stories from these periods (what I would consider ‘classic literature’) as entertaining as modern stories however this is purely my personal preference and is in no way the fault of the book. All of the stories are well written and I was genuinely interested to read this collection because the subject of female hypnotists is one that is completely new to me.
The Female Hypnotist has been excellently curated by Hartman. I really like it when a short story collection has a clear theme which this book definitely does. The book also has one of the most extensive bibliographies I’ve ever come across. It was immediately clear that a lot of research and hard work has gone into putting this collection together.
There is nothing like a collection of short fiction to breathe life into bygone eras. These tales from Edwardian and Victorian times recall those periods vividly, evoking the clatter of horses or the soft rustle of crinoline. This is a time of cobblestones and gas lamps and formality, and of a richness of language often not seen in modern, more minimalist prose. Although this book's narrow focus of female hypnotists limits the scope somewhat, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised by the breadth this book displays, both in the stories' tones and in their plots. Some of the stories have unexpected twists, while others have remarkable characters whose complexities, revealed within such a few pages, are memorable indeed. The weakest part of the book, by far, is not the tales themselves but rather the forward. Amy Ellingham, a professional hypnotist, decries in her second paragraph the modern-day "charlatans [. . .] who propogate a flawed knowledge base and narrative." This acknowledgment of the ignorance surrounding the science of hypnotism would have been a great opportunity for her to clarify the facts: to lay out for the readers what is possible with hypnosis and what is not, thus grounding these tales with a solid scientific foundation. Instead, she leaned away from her science background altogether, focusing on the Victorian and Edwardian eras as seen in literature, and condemning them for producing fiction with "outmoded patriarchal sentiments" instead of living up to 21st-century gender norms. Still, the fiction itself is well worth reading, and the tales are sure to entertain and amuse.
To capture a phrase from one of the stories herein: These collected works generate a ‘curious fascination’ in the reader. Are they thrillers? I would say, more chillers: These are clever, unpredictable tales, with varying levels of a creepiness factor.
The first is both eerie and intriguing, as well as beautifully written–by Louisa May Alcott in fact, although this story might not quite fit what we expect from her. We begin ‘A Pair of Eyes; or Modern Magic,’ with misgiving, as from the opening paragraph we hear mention of Lady Macbeth, and quite a fascination with her eyes…
��The Facts of the Ratcliff Case,’ by Edward Page Mitchell likewise fascinates, as we immediately begin to speculate that our main character was hypnotized, purposefully, at the start. At first it seems quite a friendly event…but then, we begin to suspect purpose…
From revenge to mystery, scandal to outrage, each has its strange appeal. I was startled to find more than one Arthur Conan Doyle work here – and yet, they fit. They do indeed fit.
The pace of these stories, along with their presentation of mood, all are well suited to one another. They seem indeed to draw the reader into them, until we feel the ‘haunting’ of each, far more than simply reading it. They share a cleverness of language, situation, and are utterly unpredictable.
I recommend this work to anyone looking for the unpredictable, or readers who enjoy the paranormal.
This book is a collection of short stories about female hypnotist from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Some of the authors I know inclued Louisa May Alcott, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and then others that I don't.
I always struggle with short stories and they are not something that I normally would read, although I have done in the past. As with all collections there are stories that I did like and others I didn't. My favourite in this collection has to be The Burglar's Blunder by Richard Marsh.
My niggle with this collection is that because the old authors I found the stories very wordy and at times rambling. This is not unusual for older authors including my favourites such as the Brontes.
This collection I would say is aimed at a niche audience and although I enjoy anything supernatural, and the time period this book wasn't quite for me.
Thank you to the publisher for the book via Librarything to review.
Geared more towards the academic than the casual reader, this is a fantastic collection of stories typical of the genre from authors both well known and obscure. These stories are emblematic of the themes and tropes one would expect, always about and sometimes by women. I think the real gem of the collection is the extensive bibliography, a highly detailed list of additional stories that there was certainly not room for in this particular volume. Much like those actually collected, the bibliography is a comprehensive cross section of the well known (F. Marion Crawford's 'The Witch of Prague') and the obscure. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the genre of the era. As an aside, there's a conan doyle story that I would shocked to learn wasn't in some way an inspiration for Lovecraft's 'Thing on the Doorstep'.
This was given to me by the Editor Donald Hartman This is a book of short stories. All of them about the same subject, Hypnotist that are female. I loved every story in the book. It took me a very long time to finish the book however because I don't like to read about the same subject over and over again. So I read one story in-between other books that I read at a time. Love to read stories that take place in the 1800's.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. I won it on a Giveaway from Book Review Buzz. This book is a selection of short stories and novellas from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It is about Female Hypnotist or Mesmerists. I have never read a book like this before. I am glad that I read it. I highly recommend this book.
A thematic collection of short stories rom the Victorian and Edwardian era, starring a female hypnotist. As with every collection, the quality of the stories are uneven. It`s interesting to see that (according to the preconceptions of the era) the female protagonists are very rarely playing a positive role.