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The Library Window
Ostensibly a ghost story, The Library Window is also an exploration of what is real and what is not, or, as the author says, A Story of the Seen and Unseen. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 5.5-by-8.5-inch format by Waking Lion Press.
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1896
12 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Mrs. Oliphant
1,049 books167 followersMargaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
February 21, 2018
A ghost story that has I'm sure been copied numerous times now, although of course the original is the best. The story of another world through a window that only one girl can see. Really quite scary, I will be recommending it to victorian ghost readers!
June 9, 2023
Ambientato nella Scozia dell’ottocento, questo racconto lungo di Margareth Oliphant [1828-1897], nota da noi per la recente traduzione e pubblicazione delle “Cronache di Carlington”, racconta l’evasione fantastica di una giovinetta ospite di una affettuosa zia di età avanzata che abituata ad una vita scandita da ripetitivi rituali quotidiani e chiacchiere futili e superficiali con amiche di pari età, non tiene conto della solitudine interiore della giovanissima nipote che annoiandosi presto inseguirà un’idea, un'evasione, un sogno ad occhi aperti, apparentemente privi di conseguenze se non quella di ravvivare una quotidianità vuota e noiosa ma che a lungo andare si rivelerà nociva e deleteria per la giovane mente.
Questo racconto lungo parte da un’idea leggera ai limiti dell’inconsistenza ma con il passare delle pagine, peraltro scritte impeccabilmente con descrizioni accurate dell’ambiente e dei protagonisti, diventa una lettura davvero piacevole e sottilmente intrigante al punto da portare il lettore a interrogarsi sulla piega che prenderà il racconto nelle pagine finali, quando la protagonista sembra rimanere verosimilmente l'unica persona ancora raziocinante circondata da anziani rimbambiti e confusi o é lei ad essere impalpabilmente infatuata nella ragnatela della sua esuberante immaginazione.
Questo racconto lungo parte da un’idea leggera ai limiti dell’inconsistenza ma con il passare delle pagine, peraltro scritte impeccabilmente con descrizioni accurate dell’ambiente e dei protagonisti, diventa una lettura davvero piacevole e sottilmente intrigante al punto da portare il lettore a interrogarsi sulla piega che prenderà il racconto nelle pagine finali, quando la protagonista sembra rimanere verosimilmente l'unica persona ancora raziocinante circondata da anziani rimbambiti e confusi o é lei ad essere impalpabilmente infatuata nella ragnatela della sua esuberante immaginazione.
March 9, 2020
La protagonista, que actualmente reside con su tía, vive obsesionada por la ventana que hay frente a su casa. Para muchos no es más que una ventana tapiada, pero ella parece vislumbrar algo más.
‘La ventana de la biblioteca’ (The Library Window, 1896), de la escocesa Margaret Oliphant, es un excelente relato de fantasmas, pero ante todo es un relato psicológico, opresivo. Miedo no da, pero siempre es un gusto leer a Oliphant.
‘La ventana de la biblioteca’ (The Library Window, 1896), de la escocesa Margaret Oliphant, es un excelente relato de fantasmas, pero ante todo es un relato psicológico, opresivo. Miedo no da, pero siempre es un gusto leer a Oliphant.
February 1, 2014
A teenage girl, on an extended visit to her aunt's in Scotland, becomes obsessed by looking out at a window across the way - a window no one but her is convinced is more than a clever bit of trompe l'oeil. The more she looks, the more she seems to see... and all her aunt's elderly friends cluck in concern as if they know more than they're telling...
This ghost story is exceptional - it truly captures the mental state of a lonely, bookish young person, and although quietly told, creates an effective sense of dread.
This ghost story is exceptional - it truly captures the mental state of a lonely, bookish young person, and although quietly told, creates an effective sense of dread.
February 24, 2020
El relato prometía...la ambientación, un grupo de ancianos algo inquietante, la ventana...pero al final...nop! Y para colmo no logro imaginarme bien bien como funciona esa ventana.
May 15, 2018
Read because Ursula K. Le Guin’s Words Are My Matter shamed me for not having read anything of Oliphant’s before (there’s a chapter on women writers of classic literature who get erased by time while their male counterparts get put on pedestals).
-----------SUMMARY-----------
It’s a short, sweet novella whose main character, who goes unnamed, is a very bookish girl (probably a teenager), the daughter of a famous author, visiting her elderly maternal aunt (probably great-aunt), Mary Balcarres, at her home in the county of Fife in Scotland.
Aunt Mary is kindly and forgiving of the narrator’s youthful distractedness and dreaminess in a way the narrator’s parents are not [though her friends who come over every evening to hang out, especially Mr. Pitmilly and Lady Carnbee, are condescending and creepy], but her home is quiet and peaceful and— to the narrator— a little dull.
The narrator wisely points out that she’s not as spacey or “fanciful or dreamy” as people say she is— only, when it happens to be a girl who enjoys serious thoughts or reading, that makes her silly and full of nonsense rather than thoughtful or clever.
Across the street from her aunt’s house, at the College Library (St. Andrews, I think) there is a window. The window looks odd- as if the glass has been painted dark, or else built over. Or perhaps it just hasn’t been cleaned in a million years. Regardless, it looks more like a door than a window, because it’s dark, except that it’s on one of the higher floors.
Aunt Mary and her friends talk about the window sometimes, and seem a tad unsettled by it. This rubs off on the narrator, who through the month of June, during her stay with her aunt, watches the window rather obsessively. Sometimes it seems to be completely opaque, and at other times she thinks she can see furniture inside, and then a man sitting at a desk later on.
-----------THE WRITING-----------
The major theme throughout is the idea of aging, and just what it means to be in different phases of life- the pleasures and trials of being different ages, and the relationships between different generations. A theme that runs parallel to that, possibly evoking the same idea, is the time of day, and the lighting versus the darkness, transparency and opacity.
-----------THE WRITING-----------
If this is typical of Oliphant’s style, I’m going to have to read more. I loved it.
The pace is sedate, languid, thoughtful; it had a tranquilizing effect on my whole body and mind.
There’s some very beautiful, dreamscapey language throughout the novella:
“It was still clear daylight, that daylight out of which the sun has been long gone, and which has no longer any rose reflections, but all has sunk into a pearly neutral tint−−a light which is daylight yet is not day.”
“It was getting late, though the clear soft daylight went on and on. All through the lingering evening, which seemed to consist of interminable hours, long but not weary, drawn out as if the spell of the light and the outdoor life might never end, I had now and then, quite unawares, cast a glance at the mysterious window . . . It caught my eye without any intention on my part, as I paused, as it were, to take breath, in the flowing and current of undistinguishable thoughts and things from without and within which carried me along.”
“Sometimes, as I have said, he would turn round in his chair and turn his face towards it, and sit there for a long time musing when the light had begun to fail, and the world was full of that strange day which was night, that light without colour, in which everything was so clearly visible, and there were no shadows. It was between the night and the day, when the fairy folk have power. This was the after−light of the wonderful, long, long summer evening, the light without shadows. It had a spell in it, and sometimes it made me afraid: and all manner of strange thoughts seemed to come in, and I always felt that if only we had a little more vision in our eyes we might see beautiful folk walking about in it, who were not of our world. I thought most likely he saw them, from the way he sat there looking out: and this made my heart expand with the most curious sensation, as if of pride that, though I could not see, he did, and did not even require to come to the window, as I did, sitting close in the depth of the recess, with my eyes upon him, and almost seeing things through his eyes.”
“And in the deep midnight, when it is dark dark in every other place, I slipped very softly downstairs, though there was one board on the landing−place that creaked−−and opened the door and stepped out. There was not a soul to be seen, up or down, from the Abbey to the West Port: and the trees stood like ghosts, and the silence was terrible, and everything as clear as day. You don't know what silence is till you find it in the light like that, not morning but night, no sunrising, no shadow, but everything as clear as the day.”
-----------SUMMARY-----------
It’s a short, sweet novella whose main character, who goes unnamed, is a very bookish girl (probably a teenager), the daughter of a famous author, visiting her elderly maternal aunt (probably great-aunt), Mary Balcarres, at her home in the county of Fife in Scotland.
Aunt Mary is kindly and forgiving of the narrator’s youthful distractedness and dreaminess in a way the narrator’s parents are not [though her friends who come over every evening to hang out, especially Mr. Pitmilly and Lady Carnbee, are condescending and creepy], but her home is quiet and peaceful and— to the narrator— a little dull.
The narrator wisely points out that she’s not as spacey or “fanciful or dreamy” as people say she is— only, when it happens to be a girl who enjoys serious thoughts or reading, that makes her silly and full of nonsense rather than thoughtful or clever.
Across the street from her aunt’s house, at the College Library (St. Andrews, I think) there is a window. The window looks odd- as if the glass has been painted dark, or else built over. Or perhaps it just hasn’t been cleaned in a million years. Regardless, it looks more like a door than a window, because it’s dark, except that it’s on one of the higher floors.
Aunt Mary and her friends talk about the window sometimes, and seem a tad unsettled by it. This rubs off on the narrator, who through the month of June, during her stay with her aunt, watches the window rather obsessively. Sometimes it seems to be completely opaque, and at other times she thinks she can see furniture inside, and then a man sitting at a desk later on.
-----------THE WRITING-----------
The major theme throughout is the idea of aging, and just what it means to be in different phases of life- the pleasures and trials of being different ages, and the relationships between different generations. A theme that runs parallel to that, possibly evoking the same idea, is the time of day, and the lighting versus the darkness, transparency and opacity.
-----------THE WRITING-----------
If this is typical of Oliphant’s style, I’m going to have to read more. I loved it.
The pace is sedate, languid, thoughtful; it had a tranquilizing effect on my whole body and mind.
There’s some very beautiful, dreamscapey language throughout the novella:
“It was still clear daylight, that daylight out of which the sun has been long gone, and which has no longer any rose reflections, but all has sunk into a pearly neutral tint−−a light which is daylight yet is not day.”
“It was getting late, though the clear soft daylight went on and on. All through the lingering evening, which seemed to consist of interminable hours, long but not weary, drawn out as if the spell of the light and the outdoor life might never end, I had now and then, quite unawares, cast a glance at the mysterious window . . . It caught my eye without any intention on my part, as I paused, as it were, to take breath, in the flowing and current of undistinguishable thoughts and things from without and within which carried me along.”
“Sometimes, as I have said, he would turn round in his chair and turn his face towards it, and sit there for a long time musing when the light had begun to fail, and the world was full of that strange day which was night, that light without colour, in which everything was so clearly visible, and there were no shadows. It was between the night and the day, when the fairy folk have power. This was the after−light of the wonderful, long, long summer evening, the light without shadows. It had a spell in it, and sometimes it made me afraid: and all manner of strange thoughts seemed to come in, and I always felt that if only we had a little more vision in our eyes we might see beautiful folk walking about in it, who were not of our world. I thought most likely he saw them, from the way he sat there looking out: and this made my heart expand with the most curious sensation, as if of pride that, though I could not see, he did, and did not even require to come to the window, as I did, sitting close in the depth of the recess, with my eyes upon him, and almost seeing things through his eyes.”
“And in the deep midnight, when it is dark dark in every other place, I slipped very softly downstairs, though there was one board on the landing−place that creaked−−and opened the door and stepped out. There was not a soul to be seen, up or down, from the Abbey to the West Port: and the trees stood like ghosts, and the silence was terrible, and everything as clear as day. You don't know what silence is till you find it in the light like that, not morning but night, no sunrising, no shadow, but everything as clear as the day.”
December 5, 2021
Una lección de terror gótico psicológico.
Sin derramar una gota de sangre, Mrs. Oliphant consigue que la tuya desaparezca un ratito al ritmo que lo hace la de la protagonista, esa jovencita algo "neurasténica", que dirían en sus tiempos y que, en realidad, es un espíritu demasiado sensible e imaginativo.
Pocos pero efectivos personajes, inmersos en una atmósfera propicia y perfectamente descrita de poca luz, noches silenciosas y llenas de misterio. Lo curioso es cómo logra que, en pleno verano y con los días más largos del año, en la mente del lector quede la idea de que el cuento, o novela corta, transcurre durante largos y oscuros atardeceres.
Secretos no desvelados, cruces de miradas llenas de sobre entendidos entre los ancianos que rodean a la joven, y la sensación de vivir una ensoñación o alucinación que tampoco queda claro que lo sea.
Lo dicho, una joyita de relato.
Sin derramar una gota de sangre, Mrs. Oliphant consigue que la tuya desaparezca un ratito al ritmo que lo hace la de la protagonista, esa jovencita algo "neurasténica", que dirían en sus tiempos y que, en realidad, es un espíritu demasiado sensible e imaginativo.
Pocos pero efectivos personajes, inmersos en una atmósfera propicia y perfectamente descrita de poca luz, noches silenciosas y llenas de misterio. Lo curioso es cómo logra que, en pleno verano y con los días más largos del año, en la mente del lector quede la idea de que el cuento, o novela corta, transcurre durante largos y oscuros atardeceres.
Secretos no desvelados, cruces de miradas llenas de sobre entendidos entre los ancianos que rodean a la joven, y la sensación de vivir una ensoñación o alucinación que tampoco queda claro que lo sea.
Lo dicho, una joyita de relato.
February 28, 2019
Though she was a favorite of Queen Victoria and wrote over 120 books, Margaret Oliphant is not studied much today. This is my PSA that Oliphant is an author worth studying. She certainly deserves more than nine reviews on Goodreads.
The Library Window is a Gothic novella (or, if you want to be cute, “novelette”) around 50 pages long. It tells the story of a young, unnamed narrator who begins to notice a peculiar library window across from her aunt’s home. While her aunt’s friends speculate that the window is a fake, the narrator grows more certain that it is, in fact, real. Over time, she begins to see the room behind the window and, eventually, a man living in it. She discounts the older ladies’ claims as a result of their poor eyesight, but the window and the man beyond it still seem not quite right. The narrator becomes obsessed with the man.
This was Oliphant’s last book; she died a year later, having outlived her husband, brothers, and all her children. This fact makes the novella even more haunting.
It’s the sort of haunting I can tolerate though. As someone who’s successfully avoided horror movies in all 19 years of her life, I’m not one to read scary books, and I don’t think this book is scary. It’s suspenseful and it sticks with you, but it’s not scary.
It’s hard to talk about this book the way I normally would. There’s no epic romance, but the relationship between the narrator and the ghastly man in the window she only sees from across the street is an interesting one. The cast is almost entirely female, but the main character is a girl who enjoys reading and daydreaming; she is a relatable character at first and a strange character later.
The plot is not remarkable in any way, nor is it unremarkable. It is what you’d expect from Gothic literature, but that doesn’t detract from my experience of the book. It’s a page-turner because Oliphant writes it in an interesting way. She leads the reader to ask plenty of questions and never answers one without bringing up another. That said, she never answers all the questions, surrendering her story to the reader’s interpretation.
That’s what I love most about this story: its openness to interpretation. The meaning behind the elusive library window, the narrator’s growing interest in it, and her strange relationship with her aunt and her aunt’s friends opens the novel to multiple readings. Even more interestingly, since the book is not widely reviewed, I don’t think anyone has yet found a perfect answer to the meaning of the novella–and perhaps they never will. The questions that remain after the books’ conclusion add to the sense of mystery.
The Library Window is a brilliantly written novella that doesn’t have the readership it deserves.
Recommendation: Literature majors, especially those who appreciate Victorian and Gothic literature, will appreciate this book.
Since it’s such a quick read, I’d say those who enjoy suspense stories and don’t mind them being historical would also appreciate this novella. If you like Poe, this is perfect for you. It’s the sort of book that should be read around Halloween, anyhow. And it’s appropriate for the kiddos. It teaches them to stay away from strange men in the window and diamond rings. I might be stretching it a little, but you get the gist.
If you’re at all interested, please please please read this book.
Also, please please please friend me on Goodreads or follow my blog if you want more reviews like this!
The Library Window is a Gothic novella (or, if you want to be cute, “novelette”) around 50 pages long. It tells the story of a young, unnamed narrator who begins to notice a peculiar library window across from her aunt’s home. While her aunt’s friends speculate that the window is a fake, the narrator grows more certain that it is, in fact, real. Over time, she begins to see the room behind the window and, eventually, a man living in it. She discounts the older ladies’ claims as a result of their poor eyesight, but the window and the man beyond it still seem not quite right. The narrator becomes obsessed with the man.
This was Oliphant’s last book; she died a year later, having outlived her husband, brothers, and all her children. This fact makes the novella even more haunting.
It’s the sort of haunting I can tolerate though. As someone who’s successfully avoided horror movies in all 19 years of her life, I’m not one to read scary books, and I don’t think this book is scary. It’s suspenseful and it sticks with you, but it’s not scary.
It’s hard to talk about this book the way I normally would. There’s no epic romance, but the relationship between the narrator and the ghastly man in the window she only sees from across the street is an interesting one. The cast is almost entirely female, but the main character is a girl who enjoys reading and daydreaming; she is a relatable character at first and a strange character later.
The plot is not remarkable in any way, nor is it unremarkable. It is what you’d expect from Gothic literature, but that doesn’t detract from my experience of the book. It’s a page-turner because Oliphant writes it in an interesting way. She leads the reader to ask plenty of questions and never answers one without bringing up another. That said, she never answers all the questions, surrendering her story to the reader’s interpretation.
That’s what I love most about this story: its openness to interpretation. The meaning behind the elusive library window, the narrator’s growing interest in it, and her strange relationship with her aunt and her aunt’s friends opens the novel to multiple readings. Even more interestingly, since the book is not widely reviewed, I don’t think anyone has yet found a perfect answer to the meaning of the novella–and perhaps they never will. The questions that remain after the books’ conclusion add to the sense of mystery.
The Library Window is a brilliantly written novella that doesn’t have the readership it deserves.
Recommendation: Literature majors, especially those who appreciate Victorian and Gothic literature, will appreciate this book.
Since it’s such a quick read, I’d say those who enjoy suspense stories and don’t mind them being historical would also appreciate this novella. If you like Poe, this is perfect for you. It’s the sort of book that should be read around Halloween, anyhow. And it’s appropriate for the kiddos. It teaches them to stay away from strange men in the window and diamond rings. I might be stretching it a little, but you get the gist.
If you’re at all interested, please please please read this book.
Also, please please please friend me on Goodreads or follow my blog if you want more reviews like this!
August 8, 2013
I loved this novella written by Mrs. Oliphant. It reminds me in some way, Proust's style of writing with very long paragraphs but still keeping our attention into the plot.
A magnificent book which was kindly recommended by Karen, I really appreciate.
A magnificent book which was kindly recommended by Karen, I really appreciate.
September 29, 2024
En esta novela corta de finales del siglo diecinueve vemos claramente lo que podía hacer una mujer de clase acomodada en aquel tiempo: básicamente NADA.
Es un relato bien escrito que puede englobarse en el misterio o el terror, pero para mí entra claramente en el terreno psicológico. Si alguien leyó el ESPLÉNDIDO "El papel pintado de amarillo" (o tapiz según sea la traducción) creo que pensará en él a medida que avanza en esta historia.
Una muchacha (de unos diecisiete años) pasa el verano en casa de su anciana tía en una pueblo de Escocia. Se sientan día tras día en una sala y simulan leer o bordar...
En una ocasión las amigas de la mujer mencionan que no saben si la ventana de enfrente es real o falsa, pues nunca ven nada a través de ella.
Desde ese momento la joven, se obsesiona con mirarla y descubrir su secreto.
La autora habla entre líneas, de forma sutil. Me atrevería a decir que es una profunda crítica a la sociedad de su época y al papel que le tocaba cargar al sexo femenino... pero aparentemente sin decir nada. Hay mucho más de lo que se ve en la superficie en este libro y merece más reconocimiento del que tiene en la actualidad.
Si os interesa, podéis escucharlo en una gran adaptación de IVOOX (1h y 52 minutos) o leerlo gratis en El Libro Total.
Es un relato bien escrito que puede englobarse en el misterio o el terror, pero para mí entra claramente en el terreno psicológico. Si alguien leyó el ESPLÉNDIDO "El papel pintado de amarillo" (o tapiz según sea la traducción) creo que pensará en él a medida que avanza en esta historia.
Una muchacha (de unos diecisiete años) pasa el verano en casa de su anciana tía en una pueblo de Escocia. Se sientan día tras día en una sala y simulan leer o bordar...
En una ocasión las amigas de la mujer mencionan que no saben si la ventana de enfrente es real o falsa, pues nunca ven nada a través de ella.
Desde ese momento la joven, se obsesiona con mirarla y descubrir su secreto.
La autora habla entre líneas, de forma sutil. Me atrevería a decir que es una profunda crítica a la sociedad de su época y al papel que le tocaba cargar al sexo femenino... pero aparentemente sin decir nada. Hay mucho más de lo que se ve en la superficie en este libro y merece más reconocimiento del que tiene en la actualidad.
Si os interesa, podéis escucharlo en una gran adaptación de IVOOX (1h y 52 minutos) o leerlo gratis en El Libro Total.
January 3, 2019
3.5 Stars
I liked the style in which this was written. It felt lyrical to me. I loved that it was such a simple premise—is it a real window or a painted mural— yet utterly gripping. The story includes its own answer, but I also think it leaves room to draw your own conclusions.
I liked the style in which this was written. It felt lyrical to me. I loved that it was such a simple premise—is it a real window or a painted mural— yet utterly gripping. The story includes its own answer, but I also think it leaves room to draw your own conclusions.
October 23, 2023
As a novice reader of Scottish literature whose focus has always been centred on either English or American works of fiction, I found myself quite taken by the magnetic voice of this northern dame. Oliphant's characterisation of the narrator reminds one of the mavericks in Jane Austen's books – the voracious readers who abstain from uncalled-for socialisations; the fantastic dreamers undermined by all as if their being fanciful and imaginative is a sort of flaw which is looked down upon. Unbeknownst to the ignorant crowd, no progress would have been made if not for that very trait and the curiosity entailed.
The author's vivid descriptions of the setting and her consistency in showing the world through the eyes of the protagonist, proportionate to her mood and age, were quite impressive. The unnamed heroine is going through the roughest patch there is in everyone's life – adolescence. Her mind is naturally occupied with conflicting issues – independence of thought or toeing the herd's line.
As was the case in the Victorian era, a girl on the verge of womanhood had no other prospects but to marry and wear one of those hideous rings on her finger for the rest of her life. I agree that the menacing diamond ring stands for entrapment but viewed in a rather different light. What if the ring represented the onus of ancestral traditions which may not make any sense to one personally, though it would be out of the question to simply desert them? What if the protagonist's decision to abandon this heritage, neither sell it nor dispose of it, was in itself a daring act of rebellion?
The author's vivid descriptions of the setting and her consistency in showing the world through the eyes of the protagonist, proportionate to her mood and age, were quite impressive. The unnamed heroine is going through the roughest patch there is in everyone's life – adolescence. Her mind is naturally occupied with conflicting issues – independence of thought or toeing the herd's line.
As was the case in the Victorian era, a girl on the verge of womanhood had no other prospects but to marry and wear one of those hideous rings on her finger for the rest of her life. I agree that the menacing diamond ring stands for entrapment but viewed in a rather different light. What if the ring represented the onus of ancestral traditions which may not make any sense to one personally, though it would be out of the question to simply desert them? What if the protagonist's decision to abandon this heritage, neither sell it nor dispose of it, was in itself a daring act of rebellion?
June 1, 2021
I loved the slow presentation of the narrative and of the character's surroundings. The author took her time building up the atmosphere for the reader until we feel what the main character feels. I just didn't rate it 5 stars because the end was too loose - I think that tying the pieces of the mystery would have been far scarier.
March 25, 2018
4 stars (liked a lot)
An engaging and enjoyably written short story about what a girl sees while looking out a window across the street at a library window.
An engaging and enjoyably written short story about what a girl sees while looking out a window across the street at a library window.
August 1, 2021
3,5 Trochę gubi tempo, ale Oliphant i tak świetnie kreuje atmosferę i zwodzi czytelnika. Również piękny portret mola książkowego <3
January 11, 2022
Yellow Wallpaper’s cousin
Want to read
January 18, 2025You can read it for free here:
https://www.oliphantfiction.com/x0200...
https://www.oliphantfiction.com/x0200...
May 28, 2020
Me esperaba algo más de esta historia victoriana de fantasmas.
July 28, 2023
Actual rating: 4.5 stars.
Last year I read and loved Hester by Margaret Oliphant, so this year I really want to read more by her. I started with The Library Window, and, despite the fact I was optimistic about it, I didn't expect to love it so much.
I am really grateful I picked up this edition, because it has an excellent introduction by Maria Teresa Chialant, which not only talks about Mrs. Oliphant's life and works (making me want to read everything she's ever written), but also explores in depth this short story, which seems simple but hides many intriguing thematics and meanings. As Chialant points out, it really is similar to The Turn of the Shrew by Henry James, one of my favourite books of all time.
The story follows a young woman who becomes fascinated by a window opposite her aunt' house, where she starts to see a young male writer. As I said, the story is simple and not much happens, but the hidden meanings are definitely fascinating. The mysterious appearance of the young writer can be explained in a supernatural way, and indeed the ending of the story seems to confirm it, when However, the strong fascination, and even obsession, that the protagonist develops towards him can also have another explanation: the male writer is a double of the protagonist, and he represents the desire to escape the oppressive condition of women in the Victorian period.
A truly fascinating short story, which I will surely re-read many times.
Last year I read and loved Hester by Margaret Oliphant, so this year I really want to read more by her. I started with The Library Window, and, despite the fact I was optimistic about it, I didn't expect to love it so much.
I am really grateful I picked up this edition, because it has an excellent introduction by Maria Teresa Chialant, which not only talks about Mrs. Oliphant's life and works (making me want to read everything she's ever written), but also explores in depth this short story, which seems simple but hides many intriguing thematics and meanings. As Chialant points out, it really is similar to The Turn of the Shrew by Henry James, one of my favourite books of all time.
The story follows a young woman who becomes fascinated by a window opposite her aunt' house, where she starts to see a young male writer. As I said, the story is simple and not much happens, but the hidden meanings are definitely fascinating. The mysterious appearance of the young writer can be explained in a supernatural way, and indeed the ending of the story seems to confirm it, when However, the strong fascination, and even obsession, that the protagonist develops towards him can also have another explanation: the male writer is a double of the protagonist, and he represents the desire to escape the oppressive condition of women in the Victorian period.
A truly fascinating short story, which I will surely re-read many times.
May 15, 2008
Three for the Coffer that We Might Yet Give Light
i. Supernatural Fiction
The spent
summer; importance
a life of Saturday nights’
harsh withdraw.
Though tolerant,
Aunt Mary and Pitmilly
(mind-friends)
recess some
contrasted opinion.
Light: throwing,
looking. Light:
looking, throwing.
ii. Aeolian harp
Again her story’s girl
drawing Oliphant, Oliphant’s
historical Lady Carnbee,
Lady Carnbee-Oliphant.
“as we love to see them,
the personages of her narrative.”
Aid and seize ghost-like.
Explicit diction; Aeolian, Scottish,
at present. Fact: girl. Oliphant.
iii. affordable editions
of scholars accordingly
including supernaturally
beleaguered blackmail—
almost referential—
ageless edifices
ideal unions
baleful victims
critical paradoxes
Oliphant passages
A discordant image schema.
A waving like a keen divert
moving outward then back in.
i. Supernatural Fiction
The spent
summer; importance
a life of Saturday nights’
harsh withdraw.
Though tolerant,
Aunt Mary and Pitmilly
(mind-friends)
recess some
contrasted opinion.
Light: throwing,
looking. Light:
looking, throwing.
ii. Aeolian harp
Again her story’s girl
drawing Oliphant, Oliphant’s
historical Lady Carnbee,
Lady Carnbee-Oliphant.
“as we love to see them,
the personages of her narrative.”
Aid and seize ghost-like.
Explicit diction; Aeolian, Scottish,
at present. Fact: girl. Oliphant.
iii. affordable editions
of scholars accordingly
including supernaturally
beleaguered blackmail—
almost referential—
ageless edifices
ideal unions
baleful victims
critical paradoxes
Oliphant passages
A discordant image schema.
A waving like a keen divert
moving outward then back in.
June 3, 2018
I had seen Margaret Oliphant mentioned in various places over the years, and until my daughter recommended this one, I had never read any of her books. I enjoyed this book for many reasons. It is a solid Gothic mystery that reminds me of James's "The Turn of The Screw," just about any of Poe's short stories, or maybe Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown." I found myself feeling very comfortable in the fictional world that this story creates with great economy, and I was impressed by the narrative voice and style. I look forward to reading more of Oliphant's works.
January 9, 2023
Very contained, which adds to the claustrophobic tone of the main character’s experience. Interesting metaphors that serve as social commentary on the oppression experienced by women of the Victorian era. Seemingly simple, it is actually very focused and economical and delivers a very clear message. Feels like a counterpart to The Yellow Wallpaper.
April 16, 2010
19th century ghost story set in a library, so fun. the narrator is reading a book for most of the first section so she's only barely paying attention to the events she is narrating--a fantastic study of peripheries
June 9, 2017
I'm in love with the prose. The description is vivid; I think this is the piece I'm going to use as a reference for how to write description. The way the narrator speaks is also highly engaging, revealing the narrator's character clearly.
April 17, 2016
Understated and interesting, nicely written. Sort of like a junior, reversed, not unhappy Yellow Wallpaper.
Read
February 24, 2020god fuck this was so boring I am BORED
March 5, 2024
1) lord what an ending
2) started to remind me of turning red for like 2 seconds there
2) started to remind me of turning red for like 2 seconds there
September 18, 2023
Sorprendente y breve relato, La ventana de la biblioteca, es una de esas inesperadas lecturas que salen a tu encuentro en el camino y que tras leerlas, no puedes comprender como has pasado tanto tiempo sin conocerlas.
La autora de esta fascinante obra, absoluta desconocida para mi, es Margaret Oliphant, toda una rareza incluso en su época. Oliphant es una escritora refinada y elegante que cultiva la escritura muy del gusto victoriano. Por ello usa una prosa compleja pero muy rica y con un desarrollo excelente, un lenguaje bien escogido y con una musicalidad y lirismo preciosos (punto para la traducción!) y unas descripciones de una riqueza y profundidad difíciles de superar. Y ahora vamos con el que, quizás, sea el punto débil de la novela: los personajes. Al ser un relato tan corto, los personajes están muy poco caracterizados, aunque
sorprendentemente bien construidos. Pero, y a pesar de ser suficiente para el relato, si te gustaría conocer un poco más de ellos.
La ventana de la biblioteca, es un relato de misterio, muy del gusto de la época, que deja múltiples posibilidades en el aire. Pero antes empezaremos con una pequeña sinopsis. Missy, es una jovencita que pasa unos días con su tía Mary es una gran mansión. Como muchacha introvertida y adicta a la lectura, pasa sus días delante de la ventana de la sala, desde donde ve las ventanas de la biblioteca, edificio que tiene justo enfrente. Una de las ventanas finales, parece ser un trampantojo y no una ventana real, o por lo menos es lo que opinan todas las amigas de su tía que se reúnen en la sala. Pero Missy ve una habitación y un hombre cuya presencia la turba demasiado. ¿es real lo que está viendo? ¿quién es ese hombre? ¿y por qué parece que su tía sabe algo al respecto pero no quiere hablar? Y hasta aquí puedo contaros sin desvelar nada importante. Pero es que tampoco hay mucho más de lo que hablar. El relato no tiene nada entre lineas o alguna reflexión importante. El final resulta un poco decepcionante. El relato se acaba de manera un poco abrupta y no del todo satisfactoria.
En suma, La ventana de la biblioteca, es una buena narración que te permite descubrir una autora muy poco traducida al español. Resulta fascinante, en cuanto a la manera de estar narrado, y muy interesante en cuanto a la trama de la que nos habla. Y es que la literatura es como la ventana de la obra. A veces parece que no está, pero apenas miras con otro ojos, encuentras lecturas sorprendentes.
La autora de esta fascinante obra, absoluta desconocida para mi, es Margaret Oliphant, toda una rareza incluso en su época. Oliphant es una escritora refinada y elegante que cultiva la escritura muy del gusto victoriano. Por ello usa una prosa compleja pero muy rica y con un desarrollo excelente, un lenguaje bien escogido y con una musicalidad y lirismo preciosos (punto para la traducción!) y unas descripciones de una riqueza y profundidad difíciles de superar. Y ahora vamos con el que, quizás, sea el punto débil de la novela: los personajes. Al ser un relato tan corto, los personajes están muy poco caracterizados, aunque
sorprendentemente bien construidos. Pero, y a pesar de ser suficiente para el relato, si te gustaría conocer un poco más de ellos.
La ventana de la biblioteca, es un relato de misterio, muy del gusto de la época, que deja múltiples posibilidades en el aire. Pero antes empezaremos con una pequeña sinopsis. Missy, es una jovencita que pasa unos días con su tía Mary es una gran mansión. Como muchacha introvertida y adicta a la lectura, pasa sus días delante de la ventana de la sala, desde donde ve las ventanas de la biblioteca, edificio que tiene justo enfrente. Una de las ventanas finales, parece ser un trampantojo y no una ventana real, o por lo menos es lo que opinan todas las amigas de su tía que se reúnen en la sala. Pero Missy ve una habitación y un hombre cuya presencia la turba demasiado. ¿es real lo que está viendo? ¿quién es ese hombre? ¿y por qué parece que su tía sabe algo al respecto pero no quiere hablar? Y hasta aquí puedo contaros sin desvelar nada importante. Pero es que tampoco hay mucho más de lo que hablar. El relato no tiene nada entre lineas o alguna reflexión importante. El final resulta un poco decepcionante. El relato se acaba de manera un poco abrupta y no del todo satisfactoria.
En suma, La ventana de la biblioteca, es una buena narración que te permite descubrir una autora muy poco traducida al español. Resulta fascinante, en cuanto a la manera de estar narrado, y muy interesante en cuanto a la trama de la que nos habla. Y es que la literatura es como la ventana de la obra. A veces parece que no está, pero apenas miras con otro ojos, encuentras lecturas sorprendentes.
July 19, 2021
Dopo aver letto qualcosa di Ann Radcliffe e di Charlotte Smith e iniziato altre autrici di fine settecento e volendo esplorare il tema gotico nell'aspetto più psicologico ed emotivo invece che splatter mi sono imbattuta in questo libricino che mi ha soddisfatto pienamente. Questi racconti brevi si basano infatti quasi completamente su suggestioni e esplorano l'aspetto psicologico ed emotivo del soprannaturale, mentre i romanzi che avevo letto facevano solo qualche accenno al tema nel corso della trama che era maggiormente incentrata sulle vicende più o meno rocambolesche dei personaggi.
Questa edizione bibibook è poi molto carina nel suo formato piccolo, che da l'idea di un gioiellino. (C'è qualche piccolo refuso ma perdonabile).
Questa edizione bibibook è poi molto carina nel suo formato piccolo, che da l'idea di un gioiellino. (C'è qualche piccolo refuso ma perdonabile).
May 18, 2025
The story follows a young woman recuperating at her aunt’s house in a Scottish town. She becomes fascinated by a particular window in the university library across the street, where she repeatedly sees a mysterious figure, a young man absorbed in his work. However, the vision is fleeting, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, leading her to question whether it is real or a figment of her imagination.
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