As you will have noticed when listening to Ghost Bride, Mary Spencer has a taste for ”half-bound volumes in marble covers,” and in particular, Sentimental and Gothic novels.
We know these flourished throughout the 19th century, but which ones would have been Mary’s favourites? When we encounter her, she is living in the 1840s, so what had been published that she was likely (and many others like her) to read?
The sentimental novel was a popular genre of the Victorian era which focused on emotional themes and emphasized the importance of empathy and compassion. Victorian novelists built on a backbone of titles from the previous century, which included Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey. Works by Jane Austen, Tobias Smollet, Maria Edgeworth also formed a part of this canon; yet at the same time that the Sentimental Novel gained popularity, it also became the target of criticism and satire, as exemplified by Henry Fielding’s Shamela which poked fun at Richardson’s overtly (and for some, unbelievably) virtuous Pamela.
The sentimental novel continued to develop during the 19th century. Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre), Mrs Henry Wood (East Lynne), Charles Dickens (Dombey and Son) and Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South) all contributed to the genre.
Jane Eyre, perhaps one of the most iconic sentimental novels from this era, has served as a prototype for romantic novels ever since. Bronte's portrayal of the characters' emotions and struggles made Jane Eyre an instant success and a literary classic.
Mrs. Henry Wood’s East Lynne, a so-called “Sensation Novel”, and a cautionary tale, warned against the dangers of immorality and the importance of staying true to one's obligations.
Dickens’ Dombey and Son explores themes of love, loss, and redemption, highlighting the importance of family and the consequences of neglecting one's loved ones.
Lastly, Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South explores the conflict between industrialization and traditional values in Victorian society. Through the struggles of the heroine, Margaret Hale, who moves from the rural south of England to the industrialised north, Gaskell explores the themes of love, class, and morality.
These novels explored the emotions and struggles of their characters, while also exploring themes of love, family, morality, and social issues, making them both entertaining and thought-provoking reads that remain popular today.
In addition to sentimental novels, the Victorian era also saw the rise of the Gothic novel, a genre characterized by dark, supernatural themes and an emphasis on the mysterious and the macabre. The Gothic novel emerged in the late 18th century with works like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho and Matthew Lewis’s notorious The Monk. As with the Sentimental Novel, this genre also had its detractors - including Jane Austen’s satirical Northanger Abbey.
The Castle of Otranto(1764), considered the first Gothic novel, features a haunted castle, supernatural events, secret passages, and a family curse. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), another influential work in the genre, features a young woman's struggles to uncover the secrets of her deceased father's past and to confront the supernatural occurrences in her new home.
Matthew Lewis's The Monk (1796),perhaps the most notorious Gothic novel of the era,tells the story of a monk who succumbs to temptation and engages in sinful acts, leading to a series of supernatural events and tragic consequences.
The Gothic Novel reached its peak of popularity during the Victorian era, starting with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and followed by Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
So what do we think adorned Mary Spencer’s bookshelves? Definitely titles by Jane Austen, Walpole, Richardson and Smollet (definitely not Matthew Lewis, and possibly only a selection of poems by mad Lord Byron) - and slipped in between those, the scary Shelley, the amusing Sheridan and the entertaining Mr Fielding - and possibly a very new title by ‘Currer Bell’ (Charlotte Bronte’s pen name), Jane Eyre…
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