Lori’s Comments (group member since Nov 10, 2015)

Lori’s comments from the The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 group.

I felt Mrs. Brown's embarrassment pretty acutely. It would be bad enough today, but I can imagine how a woman would be spoken of in the 1800s if she'd entered a strange man's bedroom and touched him.

I've used mustard in the nostrils for migraines before (ground mustard seeds mixed with a bit of water), but it was just a tiny amount, so I'm not sure what a lot of it feels like on the skin. Was there something different added to mustard at that time that would make it hotter? The vinegar wouldn't do it, I suppose.

Or the real mail coach was coming, but the phantom one came first and the narrator got in.

Rosemarie wrote: "It turns out that the murder victim in the kit bag was a woman, but we don't know that until the end."

True. I'm not sure why I assumed it would have been a man.

Rosemarie wrote: "I listened to this on Youtube, on Bitesize Classics. The narrator was good at pausing to build up suspense, especially as Johnson started hearing the steps getting closer and closer. The horrible w..."

I think I listened to the same recording. I enjoyed this one much more than the other. Because of the title, I figured the kit bag would be significant, but I thought the ghost would be the murdered man, angry at the lawyers who let the murderer get away with it (if I understood the legal terms correctly). The writer and the reciter both did a good job building suspense.

(And I realized I had been conflating Algernon Blackwood and Ambrose Bierce, who are not even from the same country.)

Frances wrote: "What did you think of the host/isolated manor house?"

The narrator spent so much time on it, and particularly its owner, that I thought it would be more significant than it was. I figured the owner was a ghost who had been a passenger in the coach until Jacob said the accident was nine years ago rather than 23.

You can also have several of them read to you on YouTube. I'm probably going to do that for the first week's stories.

That's true. We found out who Mary Matchwell was, but not why she had the effect on people that she did. I suppose the eyepatch guy works for her.

I enjoyed the book and am glad I read it, but I did find myself wishing it would move faster, especially in the first half (it did pick up in a satisfying way after that). The house by the churchyard was the haunted one Mervyn was living in, if I understand correctly. It was by the churchyard, anyway.

We've finally arrived!

Captain Cluffe’s escape from the river without Puddock turned out to be significant after all. Why?

What was the real reason Dangerfield paid for Sturk’s trepanning? What had he asked Irons to do before he fled the town in the Week 6 section?

What did you think of the resolution between Puddock, Cluffe, and Rebecca Chattesworth?

What did you think of the book overall?

How does it compare with other Le Fanu works you have read, if any?

Rosemarie wrote: "Dangerfield wanted Sturk to be trepanned while he was there so that Sturk would die. It didn't work out that way."

That's the only explanation I can think of, too. Or maybe he thought that his (Dangerfield's) presence would intimidate him if he regained consciousness.

This was an eventful section. Lilias Walsingham died. Sturk and Irons testified against Charles Archer and named him as Dangerfield. Dangerfield has now been arrested.

Why do you think Dangerfield arranged for Sturk to be trepanned?

What impact does Lilias’s death have on the village?

Why does Dangerfield tell Irons that Nutter must not be allowed to get out of jail, and that Irons should tell all he knows? Why did Irons return knowing that Dangerfield is still in town?

What did you think of Black Dillon and the trepanning scene?

What do you think will happen next?

Neil wrote: "I must ask, why does the reading schedule overlap two weeks of the book that we are currently reading? are there time constraints or something?"

It's pretty normal here. We often have three books going in the group at once!

Neer wrote: "Anybody else driven to violence by the abuse of the word 'little' in chapter 79? I could barely restrain myself. Lillias is really coddled, isn't she?"

Yeah, that got pretty annoying.

Yeah, I felt a bit bad for Puddock here. I thought Aunt Rebecca was exaggerating about her leading him on, and of course we know Gertrude loves someone else (whether alive or a ghost), and Puddock would of course appear pretty ridiculous from the perspective of a young woman, but... poor guy.

I notice we have a lot of Charleses. Archer, Nutter, and the narrator and his uncle (though the latter two wouldn't be in play during the time period related here).

To quote Kermit the Frog, movin' right along...

Things are getting busy now, and there is a lot of action. On the same night that Nutter’s ghost appeared, Devereux lost his punch, and Irons nearly killed his wife, Irons tells Mervyn what happened when his father was arrested for murder. What struck you about the story? Has it raised any new theories for you regarding other aspects of the story?

Why do you think Mervyn jumped to the conclusion of Nutter being “the man”?

Why did Mervyn consult Dangerfield? Do you think this was a wise decision on his part?

Who is Mary Matchwell, really, and what are her relations, if any, with the village?

We find out that the corpse thought to be Nutter was a Frenchman who resembled him, and the real Nutter is in jail. Do you have any theories about him?

What was the significance of Dangerfield’s dream, and who is he referring to as “beasts”? What do you think the letter from the doctor said?

What is going on at Belmont? Who did Gertrude write to?

What do you think will happen when Sturk is trepanned?

Rosemarie wrote: "You're welcome. I've read books where one character talks in dialect for the entire novel and it reduces my enjoyment of the book. One case is Wuthering Heights, which I really should r..."

That gets on my nerves too. Walter Scott tends to do it, but I love him anyway.

We are moving along!

Who was the “vampire” in the church and what do you make of the phrase “One of these he knew to be the slave of his lamp”?

Gertrude called her “phantom lover” Mordaunt. Any clues as to his identity yet?

What happened to Nutter? Did the servants actually see him, or his ghost, or someone else, do you think?

What does Lilias learn of Mervyn from her father?

What’s going on with Devereux?

Why was Irons suddenly so violent with his wife?

Nancy wrote: "The scene between Mr. Mervyn and Mr. Irons had a delicious sort of creep to it, as did the section involving the hideous Mrs. Matchwell. As much as I am enjoying the comic sections, I'm glad we're ..."

I'm glad too. Though I must say the comic sections raised the stakes a bit because I find myself caring more about the characters and not wanting anything bad to happen to them (with a couple of exceptions).

Rosemarie wrote: "These chapters are a mixture of mysterious and sinister characters and the comic relief of Puddock and Cluffe's adventures on the river.
Mrs. Matchwell is a very sinister character indeed.
As for t..."

I keep rereading some of the earlier parts for clues! (I use the EPUB file from Gutenberg to search for keywords/names.) The book is very dense, and the writing style makes it seem longer than it is.