Lost Stradivarius

Name: Lost Stradivarius
Rating: 4.7 (3 reviews)
Author: J. Meade Falkner
ISBN: 9781542980333

by J. Meade Falkner

4.7

(3 ratings)

100 pages2017CreateSpace Independent Publishing PlatformISBN 9781542980333

Fiction

About this book

The lost Stradivarius: The Lost Stradivarius (1895), by J. Meade Falkner, is a short novel of ghosts and the evil that can be invested in an object, in this case an extremely fine Stradivarius violin. After finding the violin of the title in a hidden compartment in his college rooms, the protagonist, a wealthy young heir, becomes increasingly secretive as well as obsessed by a particular piece of music, which seems to have the power to call up the ghost of its previous owner. Roaming from England to Italy, the story involves family love, lordly depravity, and the tragedy of obsession, all conveyed in a "high" serious tone not uncommon in late Victorian literature. Preceding M.R. James's ghost stories by several years, it has been called the novel James might have written, had he written novels.

Publication Details

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017
Pages: 100
ISBN: 9781542980333
Language: en

About J. Meade Falkner

John Meade Falkner combined his successful business career in the munitions manufacturing industry with a keen leisure interest in antiquarian subjects. The significant literary works inspired by this fascination included several well researched county guides together with a small but outstanding body of fictional work. While Falkner's tales may vary in their subject matter they are all authentic in their historical detail and carefully developed atmosphere of mystery. The author's most famous novel is undoubtedly *Moonfleet* (1898), a classic smuggling adventure which has been much reprinted and adapted on several occasions for screen and radio. *The Nebuly Coat* (1903) contains several atmospheric scenes and may be considered one of the finest antiquarian mysteries. *The Stradivarius* (1895) represents Falkner's most important contribution to ghost fiction. An imaginative plot, a finely paced atmosphere of growing menace and a wealth of background detail combine to make this short novel one of the nineteenth century's classic tales of the macabre. -- from *Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British Supernatural Fiction 1820-1950*, Neil Wilson (2000)