The Victorian Album

by evelyn-berckman

There are those among us who are endowed with the gift - not yet understood - of contact in some degree with powers beyond the physical world. Stylish Lorna Teasdale's awareness of possessing this gift pervaded her life, yet she consciously suppressed and resisted it in her anxiety to be an ordinary, normal person. But just how feeble her resistances are, Lorna soon finds out when she and her niece, Christabel, rent a flat in the London suburb of Clapham.

For even as she steps across the threshold she feels the first stirrings of her otherness coming to life, slowly gathering the force to overwhelm her...

Genres: Gothic, Fiction

237 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like so many older gothic-like stories, THE VICTORIAN ALBUM was told in first person. This, in and of itself, would not have been so bad except there were no chapters. There was nothing to divide the protagonist's ongoing conversation with herself and to you, the reader.

Miss Lorna Teasdale, a sixtyish spinster/companion to her niece, moved into an old Victorian home with her relative. The landlady was a haughty woman that intruded into their lives at the most inopportune times. Lorna had a short delay of employment before starting a new job as a seamstress. This allowed her time to explore her new home, in particular, the attic. She found a family album dating back to the mid-1800s with both pictures and letters; the memorabilia drew her like a moth to a flame.

This story was first published in 1973 but the 'flavor' seemed like something written in the 1930s. The plus to this moody bit of suspense was the very life-like ambience while Lorna was examining her memento. The line, "something wicked this way comes" haunted the pages. Also, there were some unexpected twists and turns that I did not anticipate. Unfortunately, there was nothing to divide the hours and days while Lorna investigated her memory book and it took its toll. I plodded through the narrative waiting for the unexpected. Because of this, I can only recommend this story to die-hard Gothic-Suspense fans.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best gothic suspense novels I have read in a long time. Lorna the main character is fighting against her natural talent as a sensitive when she moves into a second floor flat with her niece. Soon she finds herself immersed in a murder that occurred a century earlier. The clues are made to be found by spectral interference in the discarded junk of a family facing an enemy from within. I have never read Evelyn Berckman, but now look forward to discovering this writer from the golden age of gothic fiction.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special and strange. Obsure little book. The best kind.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my thrift store finds, and sometimes I’m just in the mood for a “vintage” read that can’t easily be found in any other store! Published in 1973, THE VICTORIAN ALBUM is a book that has largely fallen out of public memory but is still a worthy read for those who can find it.

I can’t resist novels that use the Gothic convention of a creepy old house with a few ghosts thrown in the mix, and that’s just what THE VICTORIAN ALBUM draws upon as Lorna and her niece move into an apartment in a rundown home despite their misgivings regarding the property. Soon they find the past encroaching upon their present after Lorna discovers in the attic both a Victorian photo album and written documents belonging to the original family.

This novel was more of a 3.5 star read for me rather than 3 stars. The first half of the novel truly dragged, but after that, the tension begins to ratchet up as the two storylines of the past and present converge. Overall, THE VICTORIAN ALBUM contains unexpected twists and succeeded at being both entertaining and thought-provoking.

As a total aside to Berckman’s story itself, I’m always curious about the previous owners of my used books, particularly old books. My copy is a hardback book club edition, and it has one penciled scribble on its first page and the bottom corner of the cover looks like it has been chewed off, likely by the family dog judging from the marks. My guess would be that at one time, this book belonged to a young mother who forgot to put her copy in a place out of reach of toddlers and dogs. :)

[Kate Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not precisely a ghost story; more of a paranormal mystery - and a marvelously intriguing one. Lorna Teasdale is a middle-aged English seamstress, intelligent and observant, and when she moves into a new flat she uncovers a mystery. A murder took place in the same house a hundred years ago, when an unassuming spinster inexplicably shot her widowed sister-in-law, and Lorna sets about finding out why. The clues come to her one by one from the pages of an old Victorian photograph album - and more than clues come out of it. Why does this old family drama seem to be echoing Lorna's own life? A taut and absorbing mystery, well-told in Lorna's homey voice.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came upon this book in a used bookstore many years ago and
found it to be deliciously frightening. Set in London, Lorna and her niece Christabel (this name alone gives a hint of the eerieness to come in the book -- think of Coleridge's poem by the same name)rent a flat and, in the attic, Lorna discovers a Gladstone bag full of letters, a diary, and a Victorian album. Lorna cannot fight a strong desire to learn more about the people in the pictures, an action she may live to regret.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put down this book. I loved how the main character felt drawn to an old victorian album found in the attic of a rented townhouse in England. As she researches the photos in the album, there are strange similarities between herself and the unknown faces. This is so good I read it twice. I wonder if the other books Evelyn wrote were this good.

[Lucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this at a library used book sale years ago and have read and re-read it many times...one I'll never part with. Wish I was able to find more by this author.

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Londoners Lorna Teasdale and her niece are forced to find new housing and come across a conveniently located private home owned by a mother and daughter. Moving in, the new tenants spend lots of time and money making their new flat livable, and find that their landlords are not the easiest people to deal with. Lorna is between work and finds snooping in the attic a way to pass the time. While doing so she comes across an old photograph album, and some letters, and spends her idle moments trying to piece together what might have happened in the house many years before.

My Review: this is a well-written, easy-to-read book, but was not satisfying. I found Lorna and her niece a bit exasperating. They go to extraordinary lengths to please the woman downstairs, more than the inconvenience of moving again would seem to warrant.

The mystery itself is okay, but nothing earth-shattering. And the possession angle is un-convincing. On top of that Berckman should be ashamed of herself for fostering and furthering the stereotype of the limp-wristed fashion designer. She borders on homophobia more than once in her writings.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book came up in a Ruth Rendell discussion group - a member mentioned reading a reader-review somewhere else in which the reader said that it reminded them of Rendell's Barbara Vine novel, ASTA'S BOOK. So I decided to give it a whirl - fortunately it's still in my library's system.

Oddly enough, I remember encountering the book years ago, either in the library or during my visits to innumerable used bookstores, but I had no interest in reading it back then. But when it was mentioned, I recalled the book with no trouble at all, other than for some reason remembering the author's last name as "Beckerman" rather than "Berckman."

11/24: A pleasant diversion, but the ending is rather muddled. I figured out the narrator's big secret before I was half-way through.