Out of the Ages ~ Devereux Pryce

Out of the Ages by Devereux Pryce was published by Leonard Parsons in 1923, less than a year after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun when the world had gone mad with Tut-mania.

We modern folks know, mainly due to all that Tut-mania, that there are certain rules pertaining to Egypt—in particular to its tombs and mummies—that, when followed without fail, aid in our safe journey through this life. One of them is... never remove things from the tombs of murdered Egyptian priestesses! 

Unfortunately for the characters in this novel, nobody told them about this.

I love a good mummy or cursed artefact story. I've been fascinated by ancient Egypt since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and one of my favourite films when I was a tiddler was Hammer's The Mummy (1959), which starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. So, I was chuffed to come across a copy of Out of the Ages.

So, what's the novel about? Well, for the first ten chapters (there are thirty-four in total) it concerns the relationship between three people: Thira Colquhoun, a rich and beautiful married woman who's used to getting what she wants; Jack Winthrop, the handsome fellow who Thira is determined to get her paws on; and Janet Baxter, the only woman whose paws Jack has any genuine interest in. Janet is innocent, Thira is manipulative, and Jack is often uncomfortable.

For reasons I won't go into, because it would give too much away, Jack ends up overseas, and Thira gets into something of a state. Her husband suggests a long cruise, and Thira's all for it—ostensibly for the sake of improving her health, though in truth as a means of following Jack—so off they go, with a group of friends for company. During their travels, the Colquhouns and their chums sail up the Nile and meet Professor Tremaine and his group, and the archaeologist invites them to visit a recently excavated tomb. As I mentioned above, nobody warned them about Egyptian mummies, curses, and all that wonderful stuff, so one of them does exactly what she should never have done... she removes an ancient cylinder as a keepsake.

Obviously, strange things happen... strange, bad things.

Thira is a thoroughly horrid creature. For the life of me, I can't understand what anyone would see in her. Why are chaps so darned thick where women are concerned? The novel is restrained, not at all sensational and full of blood—in fact, there isn't any really, just a few dribbles—but I found myself praying it would make an exception in her case. 

So, what did I think of it? Well, for a start, I found the pace to be just right. I also felt that the conjuring of oppressive atmosphere within the excavated tomb was excellent. As someone who's claustrophobic, that airless, lightless underground complex gave me the heebies (at the same time, oh, to be there when these tombs were first opened... seeing those 'wonderful things!'). Anyway, it all appealed to me. And if you're a fan of Hammer-type mummy doings, it will appeal to you too.

Unfortunately, it's an extremely rare book. When I stumbled across my copy, there wasn't another for sale online, and I couldn't find any record of one having been for sale recently. So, I can't say what the likely cost would be, but we'd be talking hundreds rather than ten of pounds/dollars.

UPDATE:

Nezu Press will publish a new edition of Out of the Ages on 25 January 2025 (see cover image on the left). You can read more about it on this blog by clicking here, and order it from the Nezu Press site by clicking here.

The Master of Hullingham Manor ~ Bernard Wentworth

I am very pleased to announce that on 29 November Nezu Press will release a new hardback edition of the 'shilling shocker' The Master of Hullingham Manor by Bernard Wentworth, with an 18-page introductory essay by me. I'm always excited about working on a new book, but this one has been particularly exciting for me.

When I started researching 'Bernard Wentworth', I had only one tiny piece of information to work with (a seemingly unreliable one at that)... a mention of her in the gossip column of a Welsh newspaper. But, well, I like a challenge, and I love to research, so I ran with it. What did I find out?... That Bernard Wentworth's history (albeit lacking any murdering), was as shocking and tragic as that of the characters in her book. 

We could call her Mrs Bernard Wentworth... That was one of her aliases... But let's call her by her actual Christian name, Eleanor. Eleanor led an extremely troubled life. She wrote very little, but she put everything she had into what she did write... literally; The Master of Hullingham Manor was born from Eleanor's own experiences of marrying a wrong 'un. She was called 'devious' in court... She was laughed at and persecuted. If you want to know more, you'll have to buy the book!

So, what's the book about? Well, here's the blurb:

Carlos Hullingham is a handsome devil: physically perfect but morally bankrupt. He is society’s darling, ‘but behind the sensuous charm of exterior there lurks the spirit of a fiend, ruthless in its cruelty and malice.’ His first wife, Adelaide Hullingham, is dead… done to death… and now his second wife is proving troublesome.  Originally published in 1897, The Master of Hullingham Manor is a tale of wickedness, murder and revenge. With a cruel aristocrat, an imprisoned wife, a devious asylum owner, a fair bit of adultery, a vaulted room and a ‘Phantom Recital’ to boot. In the introductory essay to this new edition, Gina R. Collia reveals the true identity of Bernard Wentworth and paints a full and vivid picture of the authoress's extremely troubled life. (Publisher shop: Click here)

Nezu Press
978-1-7393921-6-1
Case laminate hardcover, 140 pages.

The Shadowy Third ~ Ellen Glasgow ~ New Edition

I am very pleased to announce that The Shadowy Third: And Other Stories by Ellen Glasgow, originally published one hundred years ago, in October 1923, is now available in a lovely new centenary edition, and it includes a seventeen-page biographical essay by me entitled 'Ellen Glasgow: The Lone Spirit’.

I wrote a post about the stories in this collection a little while back, and you can read it by clicking here.

You can order it directly from Nezu Press by clicking here. Or you can pre-order it from the usual online retailers (order buttons will begin to appear on sites a few days from now) or from your local bricks-and-mortar bookshop.

Anyway, here's the publisher blurb and all that: 

Ellen Glasgow wrote only thirteen short stories during her long career, seven of which appeared in The Shadowy Third. Published in 1923 by Doubleday, Page & Company, it was the only collection of short stories published during her lifetime. Of the seven tales it contains, only four are supernatural, but all have an eerie quality to them; in fact, ‘Jordan’s End’, a non-ghost story, is the most ghostly story that the author ever wrote. This new edition contains the seven stories included in the first edition and adds to those tales a seventeen-page biographical essay by Gina R. Collia, ‘Ellen Glasgow: The Solitary Spirit’. (Publisher website: Click here)

Nezu Press, 19 October 2023. 

ISBN-13: 978-1-7393921-5-4.  

Hardback with dust jacket, 230 pages.

A Seventh Child ~ John Strange Winter ~ New Edition

I am very pleased to announce that A Seventh Child: A Novel by John Strange Winter (aka Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard), originally published in 1894, is now available in a lovely new edition, and it includes a long biographical essay by me entitled 'John Strange Winter: Author, Wife, Mother & Purveyor of Toilet Preparations’. 

It seemed very fitting that this should be the book I worked on after Through the Night: Tales of Shades and Shadows by Isabella Banks; Henrietta and Isabella were good friends. 

I wrote a blog post about this volume in 2020, and you can read it by clicking here.

You can pre-order it directly from Nezu Press by clicking here. Or you can pre-order it from the usual online retailers (for Amazon UK, click here) or from your local bricks-and-mortar bookshop.

Anyway, here's the publisher blurb and all that: 

Nancy Reynard is the youngest of seven children. She is the seventh child of a seventh child. In fact, as both of her parents are seventh children, she is a seventh child twice over. She is the daughter of Colonel Septimus Reynard and his wife Blanche, and she lives very happily with her family at the Warren in Minchester until she reaches the age of ten, when she discovers that she has the gift of second sight; unfortunately, it is more of a nuisance and inconvenience for poor Nancy. She starts ‘seeing’ things, in particular things about her sister Blanche's new fiancé, and blurting them out for all and sundry to hear, much to his annoyance. And so begins Nancy’s career as a reluctant psychic detective. And now, no liar, thief or murderer is safe when she is near… or thousands of miles away.

Nancy is one of the earliest fictional psychic detectives, and she is unusual in being female and, when her gift makes its first appearance at least, just a child. A Seventh Child was first published in 1894. John Strange Winter was the pen name of the Victorian writer Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard. This new edition includes an introductory essay by Gina R. Collia: 'John Strange Winter: Author, Wife, Mother & Purveyor of Toilet Preparations’.. (Publisher website: Click here)

Nezu Press, 29 September 2023. 

ISBN-13: 978-1-7393921-4-7.  

Hardback with dust jacket, 246 pages.

The new Nezu Press edition of A Seventh Child alongside the original first edition. And a large photographic portrait of the author John Strange Winter (Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard) by Herbert R. Barraud.