Stories to Read by Candlelight
By Jean Lorrain
2019
First Published
4.06
Average Rating
67
Number of Pages
'Stories to Read by Candlelight' contains eight stories first published in the 1890s by the French author, Jean Lorrain, translated here into English for the first time as a collection. Jean draws the reader back in time to his provincial childhood when his grandmother's seamstress would tell him stories that gave him goose bumps and made him jump under the covers. The characters have a mythical quality, whether fantastical beings who long to be real, like the embroidered Princess Mandosiane, or real people like the eccentric Madame Gorgibus accused of being a wicked fairy. The stories fall between legends and fairy tales, a genre favoured by a few Decadent authors protesting against realism and regretting technological progress.
Avg Rating
4.06
Number of Ratings
18
5 STARS
44%
4 STARS
17%
3 STARS
39%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
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Author
Jean Lorrain
Author · 12 books
Jean Lorrain, born Paul Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism, and openly gay. Lorrain wrote a number of collections of verse, including La forêt bleue (1883) and L'ombre ardente, (1897). He is also remembered for his decadent novels and short stories, such as Monsieur de Phocas (1901) and Histoires des masques (1900), as well as for one of his best novels, Sonyeuse, which he links to portraits exhibited by Antonio de La Gandara in 1893.
