The Sorceress of the Strand and Other Stories

by L.T. Meade, Janis Dawson (Editor)

In 1898, The Strand Magazine, one of the most influential publications of the Victorian fin de siècle, deemed best-selling author and editor L.T. Meade a literary “celebrity” and “one of the most industrious writers of modern fiction.” Beginning in 1893 and continuing into the first decade of the twentieth century, Meade’s medical mysteries and thrilling tales of dangerous criminal women appeared in the Strand. There they competed successfully not only with Arthur Conan Doyle’s Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but also with the works of some of the most popular writers of the day. The Sorceress of the Strand is one of Meade’s most compelling mysteries, and the first to feature the seductive criminal genius Madame Sara.

The Sorceress of the Strand is accompanied in this edition by three other popular stories featuring powerful female criminal protagonists, from gang leaders to spies and terrorists. The historical appendices expand on the stories’ themes of criminality, gender, and political activism. Twenty-eight of the original periodical illustrations are included.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Mystery, Fiction, Horror, 19th Century

311 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2016

About the author

Mrs. L.T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Toulmin Smith), was a prolific children's author of Anglo Irish extraction. Born in 1844, Meade was the eldest daughter of a Protestant clergyman, whose church was in County Cork. Moving from Ireland to London as a young woman, after the death of her mother, she studied in the Reading Room of the British Museum in preparation for her intended career as a writer, before marrying Alfred Toulmin Smith in September 1879.

The author of close to 300 books, Meade wrote in many genres, but is best known for her girls' school stories. She was one of the editors of the girls' magazine, Atalanta from 1887-93, and was active in women's issues. She died in 1914.

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/05/...

Once again that 5-star rating includes my absolute joy in finding this author, whose crime writing introduces readers to some of the most sinister, most nefarious, and most evil female villains in print, something very new at the time they were written and thus her work has a major significance in the history of crime writing. I get that others won't be as overjoyed as I am about it, but there's something very cool about discovering the work of a woman who has long faded into obscurity. Considering that her stories used to run in the same edition of The Strand as the Holmes stories of Conan Doyle, one would have thought her legacy secure, but no. So I am overjoyed in finding her work and now I'm a confirmed fan.

While you can certainly find a number of Meade's stories online, you'd be missing out on Janis Dawson's incredible work in this Broadview edition, including her discussion of the real-life counterpart for Madame Sara (the titular Sorceress of the Strand), a Madame Rachel who "specialized in swindling money, jewellery, (sic) and family heirlooms from her clients." We also learn that at least one of her victims accused her of "magnetic influence" and "witchcraft," and that she ultimately died in 1880 while in prison. Dawson also touches on Meade's criminal masterminds and "Fin-de-siecle Anxieties" (which are writ large in each and every story in this book -- you would absolutely have to be blind to miss them) and then offers several appendices, beginning with "Contemporary Interviews and Reviews." I'm one of those strange people who loves to get what she can out of a book by knowing more about its social/historical framework as well as the life of the author, so for me, this was a perfect introduction to Meade and to her mystery/crime writing.

Anyone at all who is interested in Late Victorian/Early Edwardian crime writing, especially stories written by women, should read her work as well. And beyond her historical significance in the genre, I have to say that some of her stories often read like rollicking adventure yarns, perfect for reading on a rainy day, cup of tea in hand while curled up in a blanket. Seriously -- she's just plain fun.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really delightful find. The writing is breezy, the characters are vividly drawn, and the mysteries are fun - if a bit transparent to the 21st century reader. You will enjoy this if you like historical fiction or (light) crime fiction, but you will love it more if you read it as a study of early 20th century culture. This particular edition has a lot of introductory commentary on the social milieu of L.T. Meade's time, which helps break down the genus of each story within. There are also contemporary interviews with the author in the Appendices, as well as interesting articles from social and cultural scientists of the day. Recommended!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is definitely for fans of 1890s fiction. The first story was my favoritie, but I enjoyed the read. As usual with Broadview, the appendices are awesome, and the footnotes are helpful.

Stories from The Diary of a Doctor (second series)
“The Seventh Step” 4 Stars
I actually really liked this spy-adventure story. It's definitely tropey, but it reminded me of The Riddle of the Sands in a very good way. There's a nice mystery, and it leads to some solid 1890s action.

The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings
“At the Edge of the Crater” 3 Stars
The 1890s action is here, but the mystery is less interesting, as are the characters.

The Heart of a Mystery
“A Little Smoke” 2.5 Stars
This one is even more action, and I just thought it was a little too intense. Also, this could have been resolved by... talking to a woman. Sometimes, the 1890s can be frustrating.

The Sorceress of the Strand
“Madame Sara” 3.5 Stars
This one is the most personal for the narrator and has the best stakes. It's a solid intro, and I wish Madame Sara stayed as mysterious as she is in this.

“The Blood-Red Cross” 2.5 Stars
The overall plot is quite similar to the first, but a bit more gruesome.

“The Face of the Abbot” 3 Stars
This Gothic mystery is a bit too limited, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

“The Talk of the Town” 3.5 Stars
This one has that hint of the spy-adventure scope of the first, so I liked it a bit more.

“The Bloodstone” 3 Stars
This one's rough. I like the Madame Sara part of the end and am flabbergasted by the characters ignoring the foreign dignitary's impending death at the end.

“The Teeth of the Wolf” 3 Stars
I'm giving this one a leg up. It doesn't really come to much, and the story isn't spectacular. However, I do like several of the ideas.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sorceress of the Strand is not a series of GAD puzzles. Meade/Eustace are writing crime thrillers here. Their model is Conan Doyle. Druce is socially, financially, and politically more capable than Watson, and Vandeleur fits the general Holmes outline: a smart, decisive man of action.

Meade/Eustace burden neither protagonist with a spouse, depression, or cocaine addiction. Both are untouched by jezail bullets. Druce and Vandeleur are part of a broad Edwardian meritocracy: scientists and forensic operatives serving the bourgeois state.

And serving it very well indeed.

Madame Sara herself, seductress and blackmailer, thief and mesmerist, exists within the stories to exploit the upper crust weaknesses of men and women in bourgeois society. In each story, the stakes rise for our villain and the heroic protagonists.

While none of Madam Sara's crimes in this collection lead men to suicide, I wonder if her criminal activities and mesmeric powers of off-page seduction might echo or hint at the types of crimes committed by Machen's Helen Vaughan in "The Great God Pan"? Like Vaughan, and Miss Penclosa in Conan Doyle's "The Parasite" (1894), Madame Sara will stop at nothing.

Full review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2022...

[Vultural · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meade, L T - The Sorceress Of The Strand

Wildly popular series that ran in installments in the Strand magazine.
Madame Sara, beautician to the rich and titled, also masterminds a murderous criminal ring.
Blackmail, extortion, theft and assassination.
She is on cordial terms with her prime adversaries, Dixon Druce, manager of a detective agency, and police surgeon Eric Vandeleur. Cordial because she is often two steps ahead of them.
Madame Sara was a delicious femme fatale of fin de siècle England. Not only was a foreigner, but she was also an empowered woman in an era terrified of such.
I read about Meade’s villainess last year, and ordered a copy for my wife, knowing I would read it eventually.
The Broadview Press edition, highly recommended, contains academic essays on the New Women phenomena, and numerous engravings from the Strand run.
The Sorceress Of The Strand is also available via WikiSource, as is The Brotherhood Of The Seven Kings (the latter illustrated by Sidney Paget).

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it turns out, I had read most of the Madame Sara stories anthologized separately before, which was a bit disappointing, though it was still nice to have them all in one place. She's an astoundingly good early female villain, on par with Ben Ames Williams' The Strange Woman, whose name, interestingly enough, is also Sarah. L. T. Meade may have churned out 300-odd girls' school stories, but her contribution to mystery and the lady villain can't be overlooked, and this is a good way to get an idea of why.


And read The Strange Woman. Seriously, it should never have gone out of print.

[Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why the critics of L.T. Meade described her writing as something to please the masses. It's just entertaining, like an adventure story, but there's no clever new devices. I was totally expecting a plot twist in "The Heart of a Mystery," but there was none. You could say what's interesting is how the villains are all women.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well narrated tale of mystery and woe...