Julia Roseingrave

by Marjorie Bowen, John C. Tibbetts (Introduction), Robert Paye (Pseudonym)

"I hear from Mrs Barlow, who is a good gossip, that your mother and your sister are both ill. You must, then, have very little company." "Very little human company," she replied.

On a moonlit night, a man dressed as the Devil arrives at the door of the ill-omened Holcot Grange the hereditary owner of the manor which has been uninhabited for two generations, he has come to escape his past and proceeds to reclaim his seat. But the tenants are not passive to his new tenure. As he is enthralled by the aura of one of the current denizens, the otherworldly Julia Roseingrave, a sultry romance begins to bubble, overlooked always by the shadow of conflict and the spectre of death.

A deliciously atmospheric novella blending witchcraft and superstition with the Gothic trappings of a cursed love, this edition will also be complete with a number of companion short stories by Marjorie Bowen.

Genres: Horror, Classics, Short Stories, Gothic, Halloween, Fiction

253 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2025

About the author

Marjorie Bowen (pseudonym of Mrs Gabrielle Margaret V[ere] Long née Campbell), was a British author who wrote historical romances, supernatural horror stories, popular history and biography. Her total output numbers over 150 volumes with the bulk of her work under the 'Bowen' pseudonym. She also wrote under the names Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, John Winch, Robert Paye, and Margaret Campbell. As Joseph Shearing, she wrote several sinister gothic romances full of terror and mystery. Many of these stories were published as Berkley Medallion Books. Several of her books were adapted as films. Her books are much sought after by aficionados of gothic horror and received praise from critics.

Bowen's alcoholic father left the family at an early age and was eventually found dead on a London street. After this, Bowen's prolific writings were the chief financial support for her family. She was married twice: first, from 1912-16, to a Sicilian named Zefferino Emilio Constanza, who died of tuberculosis, and then to one Arthur L. Long. Her first novel was The Viper of Milan (1906), after which she produced a steady stream of writings until the day of her death on 23rd December 1952. Her last, posthumous, novel was The Man with the Scales (1954).

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

“"I hear from Mrs Barlow, who is a good gossip, that your mother and your sister are both ill. You must, then, have very little company." "Very little human company," she replied.”
This British Library Tales of the Weird collection consists of a novella (Julia Roseingrave) and six short stories: The Scoured Silk, Dark Ann, Hurry! Hurry!, Sheep’s Head and Babylon, Red Champagne and finally The Sign-Painter and the Crystal Fishes.
Marjorie Bowen (1885-1952) was one of the many (at least seven) pseudonyms of Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long. She had a difficult upbringing in poverty, he father being an alcoholic who died young. She studied at the Slade and wrote from an early age. Her first novel was rejected by many publishers for being too violent and not appropriate for a female writer. It was a bestseller when it was eventually published. She was a prolific writer: many novels (over 150) and short stories. She was also a committed vegetarian, having witnessed the way animals were killed for meat, and often purchased animals in order to release them. She wrote a number of gothic novels and short stories.
The novella in this collection is initially quite effective, the plot and characters are set up well. A wicked aristo returns to his estate to hide away. He turns up dressed as the devil after a masque and scares the locals. The Julia of the title lives with her mother and sister, both of whom have disabilities. She is also close friends with a local wise woman. They devise a plan to ensnare the newly arrived Lord of the Manor. Unfortunately the ending is rather weak and doesn’t work at all.
The short stories are a varied bunch. Dark Ann is probably the best of them, Hurry! Hurry! the worst. On the whole if you like gothic tales with a twist, there’s enough here to make it worth reading. It’s a shame about the novella though, it was almost good!

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. A strange story of love, seduction, and a woman desperate to escape her constrained country life. Parts of it reminded me of Return of the Native, which is not necessarily a compliment.

The climax of the book comes out of left field, with someone laying a claim on the woman for which the reader is totally unprepared. It then moves on to an unsatisfactory ending.

[p. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆

I am actually very partial to Marjorie Bowen's work - I find her writing so interesting, without pulling any of its punches. So comes as a no surprise that I loved the titular story, full of layered, flawed characters. I only wish it could have been developed into a longer, more complex novel but hey, we have to take into account the time it was published.

From the accompanying short stories I also liked "The Scoured Silk" (like in the main story, I liked that it tiptoed between the supernatural and the rational), "Dark Ann" and "Sheep's-Head and Babylon"

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title novelette: it owes a certain something to Jane Eyre and is only really serviceable in terms of prose style, but it had a couple of nice surprises at the end. I do like a tale with no discernible good guys tho, wholly realistic. Heh heh.

"The Scoured Silk" Wonderful horror gem. Bowen has a great gift for framing a tale--she gives just the right information in just the right order to build suspense. She's a literary Hitchcock.

"Dark Ann" A romantic ghost-ish tale. I love its point: dreams are both better and more real than puny reality and all its dumb conformity."

"Hurry! Hurry!" One of her historical rather than supernatural tales--political in nature. Tho' most of it seemed to lead to a predictable ending there was a slight twist at the end that partially redeemed it. Pas mal.

"Sheep's Head and Babylon" Atmospheric tale of an olde Scottish theologian's demise. Again a tad predictable but evocative.

"The Sign-Painter and the Crystal Fishes" Ah, they saved the best for last. This one is a creepy, odd, completely original and rather mysterious tale. Just lovely.

All-in-all a fine collection. I love the embossed paper cover--although I doubt it will wear well--and with a full novel and six short stories there's a lot of above-average Gothic bang for your buck here.

[Rebecca Oldfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

"At night the mist was denser than it had been in the day; moist exhalations rose from the low, fenny ground beyond the woods and the park, and these divided into the likeness of large, strange shapes that floated up and away into the dim upper radiance. Mrs Barlow entertained an intense conviction that it was dangerous to go out at night and to breathe in deeply the marsh mist."
My first time reading Marjorie Bowen, and my fifth installment of the British Library Tales of the Weird collection. Julia Roseingrave is haunting and compelling from the moment you read her name. And her compulsions seep through the pages, such as the miasmas of the destitute Holcot Grange, with its "fantastic dramas". A devilishly clever gothic tale.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entirely saved by four of the six short stories accompanying the novella. The novella itself is more historical romance with hint of supernatural added in (a very light hint), and in my opinion has no real place amongst the tales of the weird collection. Bowen’s writing is solid throughout; however, the story was predictable and didn’t engage me. The scoured silk, the sign painter and the crystal fishes, Dark Anne and Hurry Hurry are all very much worth a read though, and the crystal fishes was particularly weird and perplexing.

[Magdalena Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the British Library Tales of the Weird series and enjoyed Marjorie Bowen's writing before, but this collection was just ok. The titular novella had a good, gothic premise, but I felt it rather dragged. Then out of the six short stories, three were meh and three were excellent - 'The Scoured Silk' (super creepy with a great finale), 'Dark Ann' (curious and gripping) and 'Red Champagne' (short but effective!).

[Michael John Paul McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always a pleasure to read Marjorie Bowen stories, but I must admit I had never read Julia Roseingrave and the other short stories in this book. All stories were written under the name, Robert Paye. Each story told a thrilling creepy tale, which kept my interest throughout. 10/10 for British Library of the Weird for finding these short stories along with the novella.

[alex]

"Julia Roseingrave"
rating: tbd/5

"The Scoured Silk"
rating: tbd/5

"Dark Ann"
rating: tbd/5

"Hurry! Hurry!"
rating: tbd/5

"Sheep's-head and Babylon"
rating: tbd/5

"Red Champagne"
rating: tbd/5

"The Sign-Painter and the Crystal Fishes"
rating: tbd/5

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐