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The Face in the Glass: The Gothic Tales of Mary Elizabeth Braddon
A young girl whose love for her fiancé continues even after her death; a sinister old lady with claw-like hands who cares little for the qualities of her companions provided they are young and full of life; and a haunted mirror that foretells of approaching death for those who gaze into its depths. These are just some of the haunting tales gathered in this classic collection of macabre short stories. Reissued in the Tales of the Weird series and introduced by British Library curator Greg Buzwell,
The Face in the Glass is the first selection of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s supernatural short stories to be widely available in more than 100 years. By turns curious, sinister, haunting and terrifying, each tale explores the dark shadows that exist beyond the rational world.
The Face in the Glass is the first selection of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s supernatural short stories to be widely available in more than 100 years. By turns curious, sinister, haunting and terrifying, each tale explores the dark shadows that exist beyond the rational world.
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About the author
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
1,062 books386 followersMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
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January 22, 2026
Published as volume seven of the British Library’s ‘Tales of the Weird’ series.
This is an accomplished, well written collection of supernatural tales, if not a particularly memorable one. Most of the events in these stories take place in large old English Manor houses and involve old family legends, often foretelling the death of the current Lord of the Manor, or a prominent family member. Few involve an overt appearance of the supernatural, with characters often succumbing to subtle, diabolical influences rather than anything too tangible. This subtlety is to be applauded but after a while it begins to feel like the forces of evil are being a little too polite.
To some extent, Braddon defied the social conventions of her time so her female protagonists are often women quite liberated for their era, but, of course, their actions seem far less daring in these more enlightened times.
My favourites were ‘My Wife’s Promise’ with its unusual Polar setting, the title story ‘The Face in the Glass’, ‘Herself’ and closer ‘Good Lady Ducayne’ which was a very modern idea and something a little different. Curiously, heroine Bella trips through this last story in such a state of naive innocence as to be almost impossible to credit. I did wonder whether Braddon was having a little fun at the reader’s expense here by spoofing the gothic heroines who sang and wept their way through such melodramatic nonsense as ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho’ by Anne Ratcliffe.
It is a worthwhile collection, but not really a compelling one.
This is an accomplished, well written collection of supernatural tales, if not a particularly memorable one. Most of the events in these stories take place in large old English Manor houses and involve old family legends, often foretelling the death of the current Lord of the Manor, or a prominent family member. Few involve an overt appearance of the supernatural, with characters often succumbing to subtle, diabolical influences rather than anything too tangible. This subtlety is to be applauded but after a while it begins to feel like the forces of evil are being a little too polite.
To some extent, Braddon defied the social conventions of her time so her female protagonists are often women quite liberated for their era, but, of course, their actions seem far less daring in these more enlightened times.
My favourites were ‘My Wife’s Promise’ with its unusual Polar setting, the title story ‘The Face in the Glass’, ‘Herself’ and closer ‘Good Lady Ducayne’ which was a very modern idea and something a little different. Curiously, heroine Bella trips through this last story in such a state of naive innocence as to be almost impossible to credit. I did wonder whether Braddon was having a little fun at the reader’s expense here by spoofing the gothic heroines who sang and wept their way through such melodramatic nonsense as ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho’ by Anne Ratcliffe.
It is a worthwhile collection, but not really a compelling one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review